Participants:
| Scene Title | Early Evening At Headquarters |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | People congregate at the new Phoenix HQ and discuss things on their minds. |
| Date | January 25, 2009 |
On the outside, this sprawling multi-level complex has not seen use in many years, its walls covered in greenery and stone exterior and glass windows showing evidence of disrepair. Surrounded by a chain link fence, a drive leads from the street to a large dock, and around the back one can expect to find more sprawling greenery that eventually leads to a concrete drop off into the Atlantic Ocean.
Passing through the chainlink fence and into the dispensary will reveal that the aged and crumbling outside is a facade. The loading dock is kept clear for the most part of everything save vehicles and supplies, though a section has been quartered off and transformed into an open workshop. The dispensary itself has been transformed into something akin to a makeshift dormitory, complete with common areas, a sizable kitchen and eating area, with various rooms converted into bedrooms for the residence. One room has even been set up as a makeshift clinic, amply stocked with supplies.
The back lawn and garden of the dispensary is surprisingly well tended, green and lush during the right months. Vegetables have been planted in accordance to season closer to the building, though someone has indulgently planted a plots of flowers - notably sunflowers - here and there. Further out, the ground drops a little and makes it to a concrete edge from which opens out into deeper water of the Atlantic.
Brian is in the same spot he has been a lot lately. Well, at least where one of him has been lately. On a couch in the common room, the young man is practically swaddled in a blanket, sitting up, a bible held open in his cupped hands. To a casual observer it would seem like he's reading it, though on closer inspection it would seem Brian is simply staring at the pages.
It's a rainy evening, the water dripping weakly against the windows as the man simply stares. He looks a bit downcast, his lips tugged downward. The canary is certainly not chirping today.
The Cat is nowhere near the Canary, though she is in the building. The basement, to be precise, making use of the firing range there. Currently she's practicing with her .40 pistol, taking aim with it in front of her and squeezing off a round toward the target. A silencer is on the weapon's end, reducing sound to no more than a metallic click. She feels the gun kick in her hands and brings it back on target three more times.
Clomping solidly along the corridor to the common room, Ygraine has removed her heavy jacket, leaving herself in a loose-fiiting woollen sweater and a roll-necked top beneath. As she enters the room, she's in the process of uncoiling the loops of braid fastened at the back of her head, letting the twisted tail drop free now that she's out of the confines of her helmet. Upon spotting Brian, she slows, offering him a gentle smile and a finger-wave.
Brian returns the all too feminine finger-wave, though his gaze doesn't become any less heavy. It just lifts from the pages to the woman, the book slowly being closed and discarded on the couch beside him. "Hey, buddy." He greets, his voice soft and somewhat sad. "Ready to go be secret agents yet?"
After firing the fourth shot, Cat lowers the weapon to her side and goes to view the target. She's hit the torso shaped area with three out of the four rounds. It's looked at for only as long as it takes to see her effectiveness, then she's back to the firing line to go again and hopefully achieve a better score. Her mechanics are pondered. Maybe she rushed that last one, did something to make it go off course.
The weapon is raised, she holds her breath and uses the bottom hand for support, then squeezes off a group of five rounds.
Ygraine laughs weakly, shaking her head as she pads closer, perching on the end of Brian's sofa. "Nope. I'm a geek and cyclist, for Heaven's sake. But it seems like we've got to do it. Even though it means validating that bastard's "plan" of "come up with something"…." She lowers one hand to patpat Brian's blanket-covered foot. "How're you doing?"
Brian gives a little smile when she pats his foot. Leaning back in the couch and bringing up his legs to hug his knees to his chest. "I've been better." He takes a moment to take in a breath. "I mean.. Realistically? I'm probably going to die. At least once." He says, tilting his head a little bit. "I'm in a lot more places.. In a lot more dangerous positions. It's statistics." A little sigh. "Not to mention, I'm the canary." The word is said with distaste. "So.. I'm just trying to prepare myself mentally, I guess."
This time, she's really off the mark. When Cat inspects the target, she sees only one round of those five hit. It's just stared at, she stands there calling up the memory of what she did before and after each shot, to try and see where she went wrong mechanically. Had she released her breath too easily and altered the aim? Was the sight picture not reestablished properly after the first? Or a combination of factors.
When she thinks she has the answer, back she goes to fire again.
Ygraine winces, then sighs, fortunately unaware of the gunfire somewhere beneath her. "Well, we should get you through some more preparation. And me. There's only one of me… so while your chances of an experience of death are higher, your overall odds of coming out of this might be better than any of us. After all, the canary only seems likely to tweet its last if we're all seconds from doom anyway. So…." She shrugs. "It'll be good for the rest of us if you're as prepped as possible. I'm certainly keen for a full third of my team to know what it's doing, at least. I'm not at all sure that _I_ will, after all."
Kinson is walking through, ever-present backpack slung over a shoulder like Bill Bixby at the end of an Incredible Hulk episode. It appears he's still got that new guy look, trying to memorize where things are and where stuff is.
"I just need to do some praying.. I think." Brian murmurs, lowering his gaze for a moment. "I need to get right with God." He informs, giving a little shrug. His guys move slowly up to the new guy entering. And then a little smirk flashes on his lips as he leans over to Ygraine. "Wanna mess with the new guy?"
This time, her rate is three of five. Not a result that satisfies Cat, but better than the last. Once again she runs through the memory of her firing, to identify flaws, and takes position at the line. Her goal is to consistently score eighty percent or better.
Ygraine offers Brian a surprised and distinctly sympathetic look - but whatever reply she might have offered is pre-emped by the arrival of a total stranger. She raises one hand in somewhat cautious greeting, then whips her attention back to the man on the sofa, arching one brow at him.
Waving a dismissive hand, Brian gives a shrug. "Nevermind. So, I need to talk to Helena and Gillian. But if I can get a little boost from Gillian, I can make a bunch more of me for each spot. If not. I figure.. I'll send two extra at our location, to make up for whatever his name was. The fed guy." Brian says to the woman, looking over to her.
This time, Cat decides to use a larger sample group to test her accuracy and ability with the silenced .40 pistol. Twenty rounds later, testing herself for speed in re-aiming after each shot as well, she finds the torso area struck with thirteen of them. Still not good. At all. Scowling, she heads back for the firing line and instead of considering her mechanics, she goes back to basics. Call the instructions up in memory and follow them like a checklist one by one. One shot at a time.
Ygraine sighs worriedly, then arches one brow. "He was a fed? Congratulations, you knew more about him than me. All I know is that he was supposedly "vital" to our chances of stopping the release into the steam tunnels, and now isn't around. Quite what a self-duplicator, a ventriloquist, and a woman who can manipulate gravity at a range of six inches are meant to do to tackle either tunnels or a virus, I've no idea. But it should be 'interesting' finding out what we come up with, eh?"
"Conrad's not just a ventriloquist." Brian says quickly. "He can do powerful things I think. He like can vibrate buildings and shatter windows and stuff, I think he even killed two guys just by yelling at them." Brian offers, giving another shrug. "And so we'll have five. And I mean.. The three of me. We can work very well in a team.. and you can do your gravity thing. Maybe we have a shot." He says with a little, what he means to be encouraging smile.
This time she's doing far better, firing by the numbers. One round at a time, until five have been fired, and four are where she aimed them to be. The pistol is set aside when she returns from inspecting the target and a new one is set up. Now it's time to practice firing the M16 rifle, set on semi. Cat turns sideways, presses her cheek against the stock with the butt into her shoulder, closes one eye, holds her breath, and squeezes the trigger five times, taking a moment to reestablish the aiming point after each.
Ygraine winces slightly, at mention of Conrad's apparent deadliness, then musters a smile in response to Brian's own. "I know I _could_ mangle people, given a wall and my savate-training. But… I'm not saying we have no chance. But we could _really_ do with working out precisely what each of us brings to the table."
Kinson comes out of the kitchen, a little while after he's entered and he's carrying a travel mug of something steaming. He sips, and offers a tentative wave to people.
"Well.. I can shoot a gun.. pretty much." Brian says, holding his hands up as if saying 'good enough'. Then leans over as he whispers softly to Ygraine. "Let's mess with him." With that he leans back up, giving Kinson a little wave accompanied with a smile.
She's far better with the M16 than the pistol, it's use being for her not so dissimilar from archery, Cat finds when she examines the target after her five round attempt. Looking less grim, she returns to the firing line and sets out two magazines of twenty rounds each, taped together so all she needs to do is hit the button, turn them over, and slide it back into place. From there she goes to fire forty rounds total, ten each from four positions described in an old military qualifying standard she dug up. Prone, standing in the open, sitting, and from cover.
Ygraine responds much as she did previously - responding with a rather cautious finger-wave to Kinson, then a distinctly quizzical look to Brian, that same brow arching quizzically once more.
Kinson speaks with a voice that's between a whisper and a normal conversational tone. "Hi guys.." he says shyly. "I'm, um, kinda new 'round here. I'm Kinson."
"Shhh!" Brian hisses, as he rounds on Kinson, giving him a wide eyed and shocked look. Then it's an accusing look as he shakes his head slowly in disappointment. "Don't you know it is the hour of silence?" He asks, offended.
She goes through the first position, firing the ten rounds, then moves into the next and takes aim. Cat won't check the target until the entire course has been fired.
Ygraine might spoil Brian's attempted practical joke by having opened her mouth to reply to the new arrival. She does, however, close it on her incipient chuckle - before cocking her head, frowning a touch as she listens to the faint popping sounds now breaking through the firing range's sound-proofing.
Kinson hmms softly. He got a good rundown from Helena on what goes on here, and /she/ never mentioned an hour of silence. Looking non-plussed. "Well then.." he says in the same soft voice to Brian, "far be it from me to intrude. By all means, continue /your hour of silence/." he says, the last three words spoken loudly by the standard of his former speech, reaching a conversational tone. Though the tone is only slightly higher, there's a bit of force behind it. He sips his tea, watching, head slightly tilted to one side.
Opening his mouth for a moment, Brian's mouth slowly closes shut. Giving a little blink. Leaning back in his seat, the young man simply folds his arms on his lap and falls quiet. His gaze going from Kinson then back to Ygraine.
Ygraine cocks her head, studying Brian with rather intense curiosity. Then she giggles, and shoots Kinson a quizzical look. "Now… did you do that, or is he just playing along to make _me_ feel foolish?", she asks with a smile.
Kinson shrugs humbly and says nothing, just shooting a wink at Ygraine as a slight smirk spreads on his face. He sips his tea. "So what are you guys doing, target practice or something?" he asks, his tone mellow and once again that zen-like quiet.
The power of persuasion is quickly becoming, his least favorite ability in the spectrum of Evolved. And unfortunately this particular Canary has been having a rough week. So Brian goes to stand, taking a few steps towards the other man he simply stands in front of him, rolling his large shoulders for a moment.
Ygraine blinks rather worriedly as Brian disentangles himself from his blanket and rises menacingly. "I, ahhh… we were talking about a, well, a mission", she says, voice clearly marked with the tones of a well-educated native of her distant homeland. "Letting him talk'd be good for that, and polite. I think you've made your point."
Kinson nods, "Ahh, gotcha. You got a point, there, yourself." he looks to Brian, "Go ahead and talk again.." he pauses, "You're not gonna hit me, are you?" he asks, it's almost innocent in the way he does. "I mean, you /were/ trying to mess with me. I've been dealing with that my whole life." he tries to explain to the other man. Indeed, he's got that nerdy presence that does speak of uncountable wedgies and locker-stuffing-intos.
And if Kinson covers that end of the spectrum, Brian has the jock end covered. Or close enough. Frowning at him he gives a little nod. "I was playing a joke, bro. You used your power on me, you better be careful with that, alright man? You'll find you're not the only one with powers." He indicates, before finally bringing his hand up in greeting. "I'm Brian. Welcome to Phoenix. This is Iggy." He says with a jerk of his chin over his shoulder.
The Briton winces slightly. "Ygraine", she says with a rueful smile. "And… yeah. A verbal jest'll be considered by many people to be in a different category to Evolved ability-use on another person. But we're all a bit on edge. We're set to do a variety of horribly dangerous things… and even if we succeed, we've only got assurances that the feds won't cause us problems afterwards. So tension's a bit high for many of us."
Kinson nods, "Sorry..just trying to cover my ass. Do unto others, before they do unto me and all that." he takes the hand though and nods, smiling. "Nice to meet you guys, and thanks. I've been kinda buried in stuff since I've got here so this, and a walk in the conservatory where I met Anne is about all I've managed to squeeze in in the past couple of days." he says, "Ygraine. Like in the Arthurian legends." he says, nodding. "i gotcha, on all counts there. Looks like I picked a helluva week to be the new A/V geek."
"Anne. Teleporter chick right? I haven't even met her yet." He says, as he makes his way back to the couch to plop back down next to Ygraine. Untangling his thin blanket he drapes it about himself once again. Brian gives Kinson a head to toe look as if sizing him up. "So I guess you can get pretty much whatever you want, right?"
"Remember that you've joined a team", Ygraine gently suggests to Kinson. "And I'm impressed that you recognised my name. Few people do." Rising to her feet, she moves past Brian - pat-patting him on his shoulder - en route to the door to the corridor. "I'm off to explore a bit, and find out where that popping's coming from. See you guys later - especially you, Brian. We need to train some more."
Kinson shrugs, "If I wanted to, I guess I could..I try not to do that, though. I've only used it for that kinda thing a couple of times." he nods to Brian, "Yeah I think that's her. She mentioned should do that kind of thing." and as Ygraine passes through, "Well, I am a bit of a bookworm." he says in his gentle voice. He looks to Brian, "I'm really sorry about that. I thought you were gonna do something mean." he says. Waving to the woman as she goes, "See ya 'round, Ygraine. Say hi to Uther and Maerlin for me." he smiles a little.
Brian sends Ygraine a pleading look as if to say 'Don't leave me here with him!' But it seems he's defeated before he even tried. "Yeah, yeah." He finally offer reluctantly, curling up tightly on the couch, his gray gaze training on Kinson. "I probably was." He says simply, tilting his head back on the couch. "So, what brings you to our great cause?"
Kinson shrugs, "I guess Helena needed someone who was fair with podcasts and video production. Called me up from a farm club in Chicago." he says.
Ygraine laughs, shaking her head. "I'm afraid that it's not _Uther_ I'm shacked up with", she replies to Kinson - though it's to Brian that she shoots an amused, almost conspiratorial look. She gives him a little fingerwave all of his own, then stalks out into the corridor to search for the source of those strange, quiet little sounds….
The last round has been fired, Cat has inspected the targets, and found she hit with thirty-five of the forty in the torso shaped area. Nodding with self-approval, she turns away. Once back at the firing line, she secures the weapons and the ammo, then grabs her backpack. The empty guitar case she used for transporting them is left in the basement for future needs.
As Ygraine goes in search of the sounds she caused, Cat emerges from the basement. When people are spotted, she walks toward them.
Ygraine offers Cat a broad grin and raises a hand in greeting, but passes her in the corridor to go and explore the direction she came from, with a view to then completing her self-delivered tour of the building….
Brian rolls his eyes at Ygraine's cute little finger wave and rolls his attention back to Kinson. "So you post on your podcasts or whatever to love Evolved and pretty soon you've got the world following you, right?" The young man asks.
Kinson chuckles softly, "Not anything so immediate. I still haven't figured out how to get people to listen to me in the way you might think through electronic media. Something about it being recorded kills the..whatever it is that lets me do this. So actually I'm just really good at what I do."
Debater's greeting is returned, and she looks behind her for a moment, then continues on toward Brian and Kinson. Finding them in conversation, Cat doesn't immediately speak. She simply lets herself be seen and places her backpack next to the wall. After settling into a seated position, she opens it and pulls out a book which she starts to read.
Brian waves a lazy hand in greeting to Cat. "Gotcha. And humble, too." He notes, before gesturing to Cat. "Kinson, this is Xena. Arwen. Or any other clever nickname you can think of. Cat, this is Kinson. New computerthingy guy. He can tell people what to do." He says, giving a little inclination of his head like that is a big, big deal.
Kinson blushes a bit, "Well, it's about the only thing I'm really good at that's useful. The rest of the stuff I'm good at is just for me." he waves to Cat and smiles shyly, "Heya." he says softly. He rolls his eyes at Brian, as if he's letting her in a big secret. "I'm sure that I'm not the first person you've met that can do this. It's like we evolved are Cylons or something."
She looks up from the book, which is anyone looks would be seen as concerning viruses and biochemistry, her head tilting. "We've met," Cat informs Brian dryly. "At the ferry dock when he got in yesterday." Then her attention goes to Kinson, her features looking as if an idea is forming, some sort of inspiration. "So… your Evolved talent is compelling behavior through verbal commands, Mr. Kinson?" And a smile forms when Cylons are mentioned; a glance is cast Brian's way.
"What's a Cylon?" Brian asks, peering at Kinson. Wetting his lips, he gives a charming smile to Cat. "Hey, doll. Ready to play together?" One hands come up, a finger and a thumb, and he starts shooting a plethora of invisible bad guys with his imaginary gun, accompanied with sound effects. Pshow-pew-pshow.
Kinson nods quietly at first, but then adds, "Just Kinson. I'm nowhere near important enough to be called anything but that." he glances to Brian, "A Cylon's a race that was created by man in Battlestar Galactica. The Cylons from the new series look like ordinary people instead of robots like before. There's twelve different models, and each model is an exact duplicate. I was just saying, it seems like the evolved I've come into contact with..it seems like lots of people of particular powers. stands to reason I'm not the only one that can do what I do."
"I thought it was a surname," Cat replies with a chuckle, "thus the Mister part." She opts to elaborate on the description of Cylons for a moment, eyes resting on Brian while she speaks. "Each model has many copies wandering around, and their memories can be downloaded into each other." She studies Brian for a long moment after relaying that, then turns back to the A/V man, with that thoughtful expression returning.
"So…" she ventures, "if you encountered a variety of hostile people, you could maybe use a megaphone and tell them all to surrender, and they might obey you?"
Kinson grins at Cat, "Exactly right." he's impressed. Very. He ponders her query, "Oh that I'm pretty sure would happen. I, um, kinda learned that I can affect groups of people in a close proximity." he blushes. Obviously there's a story there.
"Okay. Okay. Wow. You two." Brian says, with wide eyes at all this Cylon talk. "Nerd alert." He whispers mostly to himself. Though he tugs a lip down in an over exaggerated frown as Cat ignores his query about imaginary people fighting. Nestling on his set he cuddles with the blanket temporarily allowing Cat to grill Kinson should she desire it.
Her attention is split between them, and thus causes delays in addressing things, but she is Cat, Our Lady Of Faultless Memory. As Brian blankets down with that unhappy expression, she pulls up the memory of what he last said to dig out the cause. The image of him making sound effect and shooting imaginary people is there, just as if it were happening right in front of her.
"I'm ready, Brian," she belatedly offers. "I've been training myself downstairs." A confident grin is shown.
There isn't, however, any grilling of Kinson. Just a suggestion. "You should tell Helena you can do that, as soon as possible." If he wants to share his story, he will, she won't ask about it. Yet.
Kinson nods, "I'll let her know. I just, um, thought she knew." he grabs his own backpack and slings it over his shoulder and sips his tea. "I'll head out since you guys are going to go put holes into things with panache."
"What's panache?" Brian asks, tilting his head the other way. "And, I think she does already bro. I haven't read the little welcome notice for you yet but.." He gives a little nod as if, yeah, Brian's probably right. "And we got a couple days before D-Day. So don't worry about it bro, come tell us to do the robot or somethin'."
"I don't know if she's aware," Cat states, looking over toward Kinson. "It's just something I thought she might really be interested in, given the situation. Stick around, anyway, I wanted to talk recording and production. I know this place in Manhattan you might really be interested in."
Then Brian's question is answered exactly as if she called up a wikipedia entry and recited it. "Panache is a word of French origin that carries the connotation of a flamboyant manner and reckless courage."
Helena meanders out into the area that the others have gathered. She's licking her fingers almost absently, except when she sees the others, she quickly stops and sneakily wipes them on her jeans.
But it's too late! Brian is already on his feet, with an accusing finger at Helena. "You!" He calls out with authority. "Were you just eating tasty treats?!" It's asked in a demanding tone, the young man watching her closely for any tell tale signs of having just eaten something delicious.
Kinson looks over at Helena and waves, "Hey there, we were just talking about you." he says, and then looks back to Cat. "Funny how stuff like that all just comes together." he smiles brightly.
Helena gives Brian a thousand-yard stare, up close. "I was baking." she tells him loftily, but then reaches up to tweak his nose with the very fingers she was just licking haha, before turning a more solemn smile toward Kinson. "Whatcha need?" she asks quietly. She then darts her eyes at Cat and Brian. "If they told you awful things, it's a total lie, and if they said lovely things, it's completely true."
"Stormy," Cat greets after Brian heralds her arrival by standing up and demanding answers about food products. She also looks the blonde over for evidence of such, and deadpans "If you are, you should share." Where she's sitting on the floor, a book in her hands is visible. The subject is viruses and biochemistry. Near her left side is the backpack she tends to have. Kinson is glanced at, she opts to speak about the recording studio later.
Taking a deep sniff, Brian nods, his suspicions confirmed. "You were eating tasty treats." Brian says in a low tone, turning to watch her walk around him. "That guy can tell people to do stuff and he told me to be quiet for an hour, and I was going to do it." He rattles off like a first grader telling on a classmate to the teacher.
Kinson blinks, "Oh? I'll keep that in mind, then.." he says, a little shyly, "Umm, actually it's something in connection to what I can do that's /not/ A-V related…" and then Brian steps in, "Yeah, well..that's only because I know you didn't say a /thing/ about a daily hour of silence. Anyways, Cat said something that made sense. I can tell groups of people what to do when they're in close enough proximity."
"I was baking cookies, and may or may not have had a few spoonfuls of dough. They're not ready." She nods to Kinson. "That's what I got from the data Josh sent about you. Is there an application for this you've been considering?"
She remains silent for the moment, letting the others speak, while inwardly debating whether or not to slip away and purloin some of what Helena baked. Cat's eyes lower to the book and she reads from it.
Kinson blushes, "Well, aside from the Starry Plough Indecent Exposure Incident, I hadn't thought about it. But I'm imagining crowd control, specificly and angry crowd control, might prove useful."
"Cookies." Brian repeats with a cheery little smile. His eyes waver over to Cat for a moment, hoping he could beat her to the kitchen for the cookies. His gaze then goes to Kinson and Helena. "Starry Plough." He repeats, brow arched.
"Starry Plough?" Helena echoes uncertainly, and looks to Kinson. "We have…some fairly big ops coming up. I wasn't sure about whether to involve you, because they're very high risk and it seems unfair to ask you to risk your life so early in our relationship."
That'll certainly be a thing to ask about another time. Cat files the name he gave the story in her mind, and continues to read the book in her hands a few moments longer. She doesn't comment on the idea she had, it's out there and the matter is now between AV man and leadership. Or at least while others are present.
Kinson sighs, "It's a bar where I used to do poetry and spoken word readings. There was..an incident. Lots of people almost came out of their clothes because of one of my pieces. I had to think fast before a full blown orgy broke out." he says, his voice never raising once. "And as for helping out..well..like Ygraine said: We're a team. What kind of rookie would I be if I didn't put in, right?"
Brian gives a little smirk. "Like you did it on accident." He teases, tugging down on his pockets a little bit. Casting a look to the kitchen then back to Helena. Cookies are very prevalent on his mind. He arches a brow. "It's real dangerous bro, like.." He lifts his hands up as if words are unavailable for him to describe how dangerous it is.
"A potentially alive one." Helena admits. "But if you're really game, we can figure out where you'd do most good. How are you with a gun?"
"I thought he could use a megaphone," Cat states, her course of silence left behind after Kinson expresses willingness, "and tell people to surrender."
Kinson says, "..whoa?" he completes the sentence for Brian, smiling. When Helena asks how he is with a gun, "Ummm..I kick ass at Chrono Trigger?" is his reply. When Cat rises up as the voice of reason, he points towards here, "Yeah, what she said.""
Brian arches his brow at Cat's suggestion. "You think that's the best idea? I mean.. I can see several flaws just thinking about it. Like, oh say, guns?" He asks, with an arched brow. "Maybe, bullets too?" He gives a look to Cat. "And before you tell me how stupid I am, don't you think some of these bad guys see their friends laying down their guns to a man with a megaphone.. And you said range matters, right bro?" He turns to Kinson for a moment before looking back to Cat. "Edward said we needed to be quiet. Infiltrate. Infiltrating with a mega phone does not sound like good infiltration."
Helena nods. "Brian has a point. Getting loud at the risk of an ability maybe working doesn't seem wise to me."
"Valid points, Brian," Cat admits. "But if they do detect our presence, at least in the area where we might face the heaviest opposition, and we have to fight, that would be the time to use the move, yes? At that point, it can't hurt us, it can only reduce the opposition. And it doesn't have to be a megaphone. He could be in a place, and if someone comes across us, he could quietly tell that one person to surrender and help us not get spotted."
"We can talk about it with the others." Helena says. She seems dubious though, and it's plain on her face.
Brian gives a little nod, "There's still some holes. He told me to shutup a second ago. I couldn't talk but I got up and I could have beat the shit out of him before he said anything else. You tell some guard to stop don't move a muscle, he yells out for help. You tell him to shutup, he fuckin' shoots us." Brian gives a little shrug, obviously in line with Helena as usual, on this one. "I mean it could work. But we shouldn't rely on it."
Kinson nods, "Well, I just want it known that I'm willing to help if I can. I might not be knowledgeable about these things, but I'm not a coward, either." he says, plainly.
Helena looks around at everyone. "No one's saying you're a coward." she says softly. "Let me talk to the others."
"Word choice is very important, Brian," Cat replies. "You're absolutely right. But think about it. If someone tells you to surrender, what do you do?" Her eyes move across the three of them, one after another, as she quietly states "It's not something to be entirely relied on, no. But if used strategically, can it make our tasks easier? If we're discovered, as you say, Brian, we've already got a problem. If he gives an instruction and it fails, the problem isn't made worse. But if it works, we can maybe not have to shoot someone and be loud."
Brian gives a little tilt of his head. First time Cat has told him he's right. It feels kinda nice for a moment. Though he looks to Kinson. "Yeah bro. I'm sure you could help out. But.. this guy Edward has made these huge special plans, and he's like really.. I donno smart, I guess. I think we should probably ask him first before we include you in D-Day, right Hel?" Brian asks, looking over to Helena.
Helena pauses a moment. "I could try." she says slowly. "He hasn't been accessible lately, but I'll see what he says. The cookies are going to burn. I'll be back later." With that, Helena heads off to go tend to them.
Kinson nods, "Okay, guys." he says, quietly. "I just wanted to let you know that I could maybe help. Well, Cat had the idea, actually." he looks between those gathered.
A nod is given to Brian, Cat speaks calmly. "He is. The plans were made without knowing we had someone of that ability. I'd be interested to hear what his take on it is, how the ability can assist us." Then she glances back at Kinson. "I don't mean it to seem like we're talking about you when you're standing right here. As to the idea, I think a lot. And I remember things. That's what I do. Ideas I come up with, they'll be used or not. Either way, I expect we'll come out on top."
She looks back over at Brian, before quietly stating "If we dwell on the chances of not coming out on top, it undermines us. Self-fulfilling prophecy. Assuming failure means being sloppy and assisting that failure."
Kinson chuckles, "You know, suddenly I don't feel so smart anymore."
"Oh really, Cat? How many wars have you fought in?" Brian asks, a little defensively. Looking back to Kinson. "I know, right? She has that effect on people." Looking back to Cat he shakes his head. "That doesn't work with everybody Cat. People are different. Some people fight stronger when they know they're on the bottom."
She gets to her feet, and rests her eyes on Brian calmly. "I don't know what I did to make it like this. I get the sense you're going to be automatically opposed to anything I suggest. If you are, you are." Cat bends to pick up her book with one hand and place it in the backpack, then turns toward Kinson. "I'm sorry this turned into a snarkfest on just your second day here."
She looks around in the pack for a moment, then comes out with a pen and paper, on it she writes a number and hands it to the AV man. "Call me, and we can talk about that recording studio, if you like."
Then she's headed toward the cellar and the firing range.
Kinson nods, "That works. I've got a few minutes to talk stuff like that.." he turns and watches her go, "um..bye?" he looks to Brian, "Umm..I got a feelin' that didn't go so well?"
"Seeya babe." Brian calls out after Cat, before looking back to Kinson. "Yeah, I'm kinda a dick." He admits, giving a little shrug. "I just tease her, and she doesn't think it's funny, and then she shoots at people with arrows, and all that, you know?" Brian offers as if it's a regular set of trial and tribulation. Looking to Kinson he raises a hand and pats him on the shoulder. "Just so you know, I have never in my life participated in a snark fest."
Kinson shakes his head, "You know what, man? I totally believe you. No Snarkfests for you, sir. No." he says this with a straight face, but the tone is a friendly teasing one. He does lean in and asks conspiratorially, "Is, um, she /with/ you though?"
She hears, and she remembers, Brian's comments, but Cat doesn't change her calm pace toward the basement door, or show any reaction. Moments later she's on the stairs, the door closed behind her. A short time after that, those muted pops resume from below.
"With me? Like a girlfriend? Hell no." Brian says quickly, holding his hands up like a gun was pointed at him, proving that he is innocent. "She's cold man. Ice cold. She doesn't show much emotion you know? There was a terrible incident that happened. Someone really close to her got murdered." He gives a little drop of his head. "At least if she's pissed at me she's not thinking of that right?" A shrug. "Anyways, I guess I can show you around the place if you want?"
Kinson nods, "Damn." he says softly, "She's awful pretty, and she seems nice. It's a sad thing, though." he takes a moment, "Yeah, that'd be cool. You don't have to, though, if you got somethign else to do I don't wanna keep you."
Brian gives a little smirk. "You don't know me bro. I can't be 'kept'." He murmurs. "In fact you'll see a lot of me around here. Basically because I'm everywhere. I replicate. Identical copies of myself. So.. I get a lot done at once, you know? Anyway, that was Cat. She's like our.. database, except we call it the catabase. Because her name's Cat. Get it." It's delivered in a deadpan, and obviously a pun that Brian is not in full support of. "She remembers everything.
Everything. So don't get into an argument with her you know? You'll say, 'I didn't say that' and she'll be like, yes you did. And it will suck, right? Anyways, you know our fearless leader, Helena. She controls the weather and what not." He starts to walk through the common room to start the grand tour, assuming he's following.
Kinson follows, after scrambling to pick up his stuff. He's obviously still very, very new. And eager, which isn't entirely a bad thing. "I'm on your wing, man." he says, his quiet voice mellow. "It's alot to take in so quick. I'll probably annoy you asking stuff you've already told me."
"Um who else we got? We got Owen, superspeeder. Elvis, she's.. hotheaded dude, I would be wary of her. She gets adrenaline and can be vicious. Just, don't make her mad, right? Umm, let's see. Conrad, he's an older guy but he's pretty chill. There's Yggy, who you met earlier, she's real sweet. She can control gravity stuff too." Getting to the stairs he leads the man upwards. "Teo. Italian dude. Nice guy, but he thinks everyone speaks Italian. And Alexander." He pauses. "Asshole, man. Complete douche."
Kinson looks confused. "Really? He was pretty cool yesterday when I first met him.."
"You met him?" Brian asks, turning back to look at the other guy. "Eh.. We've gotten along sometimes. I think we're fighting right now. He's probably nice to other people." He gives a little shrug, it seems he's pretty unbiased, at least after questions are asked. "Umm.. Who else? Abby. She's not Phoenix.. but I mean, close enough. She heals people. She charges one red bull for it, though."
Kinson hmms, "A girl that heals that deals in red bull? Now /that/ I can understand."
"Yeah, healing makes her tired. Uh Diego, cool guy, rich guy. And we work with the Ferrymen. But we don't use that word outside these walls right, Phoenix neither, got it?" He asks over his shoulder. "Oh yeah, Jennifer, dude. She duplicates inanimate stuff. So you ever short on a buck, just pay her a visit. She's Ygraine's girlfriend, by the way."
Kinson cants his head, "Girlfriend, like…" he trails off.
"Yeah." Brian answers quickly, arching a brow. "We have a few."
Kinson nods, "Ahh, cool." he says, following Brian closely. "I'm sure I'll meet people over time."
 January 25th: Looking Out For Some Friends |
 January 25th: Far To Fall |
