Participants:
| Scene Title | Flesh Is Flesh |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Always ask permission. |
| Date | July 26, 2018 |
“Jesus Christ.”
Richard Ray stands on the street outside the place where he’d arranged to meet his contact, glancing down at the piece of paper in his hand and then back up at it, his eyes narrowing slightly and then relaxing as he breathes out a heavy sigh.
He steps forward then to open the door of the Cat’s Cradle, dressed in a black t-shirt and BDUs - far from his executive look - as he walks into the place.
“Maybe she’s not here tonight. Shit. I need to talk to her anyway, so…”
"Eve!" Frank calls out, having arrived moments before Richard. He's in his hoodie with its over sized hood on, and a cheap suit under it. "I have news. Can we eat food while we talk?" he asks, before looking back and spotting Richard. "Hello Richard Ray."
The men are met with a roaring crowd of people, smoking, drinking, some girl in the corner using her ability to levitate in the air to the applause of the small crowd around her. This is the dream that Eve fought for and though she has been spending much more time at Benchmark the business must be ran and so tonight Eve Mas is behind the bar with Sassy on the grill.
The precog is slower in her movements but her staff leans against the bar shelf behind her as she pours out the drinks and chats with people. She seems oddly.. not odd. Or not as odd as Eve could be. Laughing at a joke that a patron tells her the pale woman turns her head to spot Richard and Frank making their way inside and she tilts her head, “Hello there.” Is her greeting as she walks over while using the bar for support. Clad in a blood red tank top and jeans of the black and holey variety, her hair pulled back into a neat ponytail, a light layer of sweat on her forehead from the amount of people inside.
“News.. I like a good story.” Said softly as she looks around the bar and back to Sassy who seems to have just finished three burgers and fries. Nobody else had ordered much on the grill tonight. A small smile crosses the woman’s lips, “Carry those and this,” a bottle of whiskey is placed on the bar in front of the men. “Upstairs to my place.” And she's padding over to her staff which Eve leans on making her way through the people and up to the loft above.
When the trio walk in they are met with plants.. everywhere. Hanging from the ceiling were vines in pots, flowers of all kinds, green but none of that particular variety. A few candles on the kitchen table are lit and the shadows play across her drone Spike which sits in the corner. “Welcome to place.” Frank might have been here..
“Far be it for me to deny you dinner, Frank,” Richard replies in wry tones as he walks into the crowded bar, stepping around a table occupied by a laughing group— and then they’re spotted, although the fact that his contact called out to Eve made that more or less inevitable. His expression tightens just a bit as she walks over, and he looks back to her, offering in neutral tones, “Hello, Eve.”
She assumes they’ll follow, and it seems that she’s correct; reluctantly the chessmaster tilts his head in the direction that she’s headed to, making his way up in her wake to the loft. He doesn’t look happy about it, but he’s not fighting the invitation either.
“Noticed the staff,” he comments conversationally, brushing aside some leaves that he’d walked too close to as he enters, “Something happen to your leg?”
Frank is carrying the whiskey, and then he's looking around her apartment out of curiosity when they make it up there. "I can't get into contact with the phone girl, and since I can't get into contact with her, I can't contact Erica. Nothing I do is working, so I think they might be hiding out deeper for some reason."
"That means I'm alone." He stares down at the bottle of whiskey, reading the back of it as if that'll give him some insight. "I'm not sure what to do without Erica, she didn't really give me orders for what to do if this happened."
“Samson and the Eileen that's imprisoned in that child threw me down a well,” said in a serious tone as the woman slides into a chair and picks at her fries and burger. “I'd say karma is doing what it does because they both seem to be in more… dire situations.” A ghost of a smile crosses her lips and Eve leans back to regard Frank with a squint of her eyes, “Frankie Frankie… I thought you were Erica’s golden boy.” Shaking her head in disappointment the pale woman plucks a fry out from the stack and pops it into her mouth.
“The Phone’s gone and scurried away.” Her frown deepening and the woman named Eve looks over her shoulder for a moment at the mirror behind her. Apparently she sees nothing of note because she turns back to the pair in front of her. “That's not good news.”
“She has a name, for fuck’s sake, it’s bad enough that Kyla’s been turned into a piece of equipment for Kravid’s bullshit, we don’t need to call her the phone as if she’s not a person,” Richard objects with a frown, brows drawing together, “Her parents did good work. Worthwhile work. Their kids deserve better than being a communication system for a psychopath.”
The executive drops himself down into a chair, one hand coming up to rub against the side of his face, “Samson, hm? Maybe you shouldn’t play games with him next time, you’re lucky he didn’t kill you. Witchenstein…” His gaze sweeps to the other man, “You’ve got a few choices, really, some of them better or worse than others.”
"I need to finish charting the evolutionary history of abilities so that I can find the first ability and make sense of how they evolve." Frank holds his hand up, as if to demonstrate something to Richard. "Humans are just meat, bone, and muscle. No one deserves anything, we just find things to do before we die, if we haven't overcome death. While doing surgery on Doctor Gregor, I saw first hand how humans are just constructs made of flesh."
"Being a phone doesn't have any less meaning than being a person, we just futilely struggle to be more than animate objects." He still hasn't sat down, he's in fact still reading the whiskey label. "What I do next is in pursuit of the purpose I've gradually gained throughout my life, I just don't know how to pursue that. And without purpose, I'm not any better than a phone, which does have purpose."
“The only game I'm playing is Chinese checkers, have you tried it? Maybe a new game for you to play.” Taking a big bite out of the burger she stares at Richard before swallowing it down with some water, “I've been trying to help Gabriel, he's devastated. Nobody should have to live like that.. I thought his father could help.” Clearly she was wrong but even seers get it wrong, have limitations. Eve bites into the burger more.
Frank’s musings earn a raised brow from the pale woman and she squints her eyes at him again, “We’ve gotta do something about your need to cut people Frankie, really.” Eve still takes another bite out of the burger and shrugs her shoulders. Waiting to swallow her food the precog leans forward. “You have a point though. Phones have purpose. And so do you.” Her burger is something that Eve seems intent on though but her gaze flicks over to Richard and Frank. “So, she's not going to speak with you. Do you know any other… people from the Institute?”
Nudging Frank towards his burger, “Eat your cow.”
“Humans are more than just flesh and bone, Witchenstein,” Ray states firmly, “I’ve known too many who’ve lived long after the death of their bodies - without their personality changing much, at least at first - to believe that. We are more than what we can see and touch.”
No food for Richard, as he leans back in his chair and folds both hands over his chest, “I need to speak with Gabriel, actually, Eve. Seen him lately?” A glance to Frank, then, one brow lifting, “No other contacts to reach out to?”
"I don't know anyone else. I was always under Erica's orders, most people didn't even know that. Even if I met people who aren't in jail, they'd just think I was an intern." Frank grabs a chair and takes a sit, sitting the whiskey down to grab a burger and take a bite.
His chewing is meticulous, as if he's counting his bites as he listens to the others talk. "Gabriel, the son of Samson, so Gabriel Grey. It would be nice to run tests on his ability and how it affects his DNA."
Looking to Eve, he adds, "There's nothing wrong with cutting people if you have consent or you're helping them in some way. The human body is an art and a science. I learned a lot about transplanting organs from working on Gregor's body, it's interesting."
"Kazimir lived beyond his physical life." he considers. "That's a difficult ability to study."
Nodding along with Richard’s words, “He's right.” What in the world?
Eve stiffens at the prodding of Gabriel’s whereabouts but Richard has to know about… “Not since the Well. I have to find him to let him know… about Bird.” She seems unsure in that moment, it's bound to bring her friend an immense amount of pain. “Is that why you're looking?” It's polite to ask.
Her back goes from stiff to outright rigid at the mention of Kazimir’s ability being studied. “That's not something that will ever be allowed.” Smiling though it doesn't reach her eyes. This more.. calm Eve takes a closer look at Frank, “I know what it is to be curious and I'm the last person to tell someone not to follow the rabbit hole. But that… that Dark One. Leave it alone.” Frank is handsome afterall, he shouldn't be getting desiccated.
“It’s more than just Kazimir. Technopaths, oneiropaths, I just learned about an astral projector whose body died and is haunting the city out there somewhere…” Richard shakes his head slightly, pausing for a moment when Eve agrees with him before finishing, “Meat is meat, but we are more than that.”
Catholicism is still ingrained in there, at least a bit.
“It… relates to that, yes,” he says quietly, watching her carefully as if not quite sure what to think of her behavior , “Not just one bird, but two. And the other thing you just mentioned. The situation’s gotten rather complicated, and if we don’t dig up Gabriel, we might lose our chance to fix any of it.”
"I can only do what people give me the resources to do." Frank explains, right before he starts meticulously chewing another bite of his burger, then stares at it for a long moment. "The human mind seems a little less interesting than flesh. I never understood the fascination with life after death. I think immortality would be nice, but rotting would also be interesting. I'm not sure that I would want to leave my body."
"If you want to catch Gabriel, you should find bait and set a trap." He holds up the burger, apparently fascinated. "Eating meat is interesting, because it's one of the fundamental hypocrisies of man. Burgers are a complete desecration of flesh, a disregard for the sanctity of life, but we love them."
He takes another bite.
“All he wanted was to be left alone but that's just because she's been dead.” Eve looks nervous but in her mind she's already relented. They have to find Gabriel and get his help or Eileen is lost. “I'll find him. For.. Eileen and for him especially.” She figures he's gonna need a friend with this news. Eve’s hand goes through her midnight black hair with slightly flared nostrils before she turns her gaze to Frank and tilts her head.
“Our minds are the most interesting thing about us, meat… is meat.” more agreeing with Richard. The seer isn't keeping score though, facts are facts. Until they aren’t facts anymore.
“Though rotting, yes yes it is interesting.” Looking at Richard over Frank’s head with slightly raised eyebrows. “Frankie, you should come visit me at the Benchmark. It's sweet.” She doesn't entice him with the fact that there's a electricity goddess who runs it because then the young doctor might have a new crush and Eve doesn't put it past Lynette to fry this crazy dude if he gets too close.
“Yes, well, if we don’t find him soon she’ll be all the way dead,” says Richard with a tight shake of his head, “And while Eileen and I had our… problems, Gabriel was always a friend, and we need to rescue Sibyl from the goddamn Horsemen. Which won’t exactly be easy without him anyway.”
“A trap…” He pauses in thought, “Maybe. We might be able to. Not a trap per se, but something might draw him in…”
Fingers scratch under his chin, then a brow’s lifting in Eve’s direction. “You’re at the Benchmark these days?” If she’s getting treatment, that does explain a lot…
"I don't mind trying new things." Frank continues to eat while listening, considering how he could possibly contribute. "I don't know who Sibyl is, but would surgery help?" he wonders, because that's what he has to contribute, usually.
"Have you ever eaten monkey brain?" he wonders, staring at Eve. "I ate it for the experience of understanding what it's like to eat different parts of the body, and how it feels."
The mention of the Horsemen causes the oracle’s index finger to twitch and she looks over at Richard, “They can't have her.” Not while Gabriel needed her, maybe Eileen could save him. Not unless they saved her first. “She’s a bitch but Gabriel loves her so.” Still sore over her destroyed sketches. “She deserves better.” Is the last bit she has on that subject, more so because Sibyl/Eileen/Old Crone/Bitch is giving her a headache. “I mean she just had to be.. herself. I shoulda known.” She's not gonna tell Gabriel she's been feuding with his almost dead soulmate.
“Let's not fool him, he's.. not like you remember.” Or how anyone remembers for that matter. Her mind goes back to Eileen though and she frowns, fucked up psychotic kid or not, Sibyl also deserved better. “I might have an idea. A friend who can help me get in touch.”
Looking at Frank, “Yes in China. It was pretty tasty.” Her stomach rumbles and she eats more fries dutifully, “Yes, I'm at Benchmark.” Her haze flicks between Frank and Richard. “It's helpful with what I see.” Whatever it is she is doing there. “I think you’d like it there.” She doesn't mention that there's no surgery allowed in the halls of Benchmark.
“Don't you worry about Sibyl, she's more trouble for you. But maybe a nose job.” A dry laugh escapes the seer.
“I don’t care if he’s different than I remember,” Richard says with a shake of his head, “I owe him, and I promised someone else that I’ll do what I can to take care of this. So we need to find him, regardless.” Wry, “I put up a personals ad but it didn’t work. Didn’t really think it would, but hey, I’ll try anything once.”
He leans back in the seat, hands folding over his chest, “Mm. Good. Benchmark’s a good place, they’re good people. You at least would have Eve to keep you company there, Witchenstein, at least until Kyla shows back up.”
"What do you expect me to learn from going to Benchmark?" Frank asks, staring between the two. "I do surgery, I think I'm healthy enough to do what I'm good at."
A crack of a smile at Richard, “Someone's getting creative.” Eve likes that and it shows by the way she smiles but she nods nonetheless at his reasoning for wanting to find Gabriel. “Promises are good to keep.” Except for when you have to break them.
“Frank,”
Eve turns to face him fully and she leans in to touch his face, “You're brilliant. A science fairy!” Richard knows how she feels about those so it's weird to see her smile but that smile changes into something.. raw and primal.. almost feral like, “But the desire to cut flesh. I believe you should talk to one of my buds over there. Just to check in.” She adopts a lazy air about her and leans back into her chair, “Docs get check ups to.”
“I might recommend not mentioning Erica, or the Institute, though,” Richard observes a bit dryly, “That might throw up a few flags. Mostly— well.” He fixes Frank with a steady look, “You said you wanted help understanding how to process emotion. They can help you with that there. So long as you don’t reveal who you worked for, which would probably end up with youin prison, which isn’t — I think we can all agree — the most desirable outcome.”
Frank stares at Eve, reaching up to touch her hands as he listens. "I only cut flesh when I have permission, I don't hurt people. I don't have the desire to hurt people. I just find flesh to be artistic and satisfying."
But on the topic of emotions, he nods. "I'll go and see what they can do for me."
“Okay if you promise.” She's made him promise this a few times now, maybe Eve doesn't believe it totally. Patting Frank’s leg she leans back. “Learning to channel your emotions is important, there's power in that.” The seer looks over to Richard and nods her head. “Speaking of the Institute might close some doors. Best not to do it, just say you're a doctor.” A small smile crosses Eve’s lips.
“A little lie never hurt anyone.” And that in itself was a lie. Her cheshire cat smile widens and Eve looks like she's about to eat the last bit of the burger or Frank’s face. A pale hand snakes over to her side where the burger lies and she snatches it up and bites on the rest with wide eyes. “Take the burger home for security.” To Richard, she’ll wrap it before he goes. “Will you come with me Frank?”
“Make sure you talk to Lynette,” Richard says with a motion of his fingers in Eve’s direction, all the obfuscations about the man beside, “Let her know what’s going on. She can be discreet, and she’ll need to know.”
His fingers rake back through his hair, then, and he breathes out a sigh, “Hopefully Kyla will show back up sooner or later— let me know if she does, alright, Witchenstein? I need to talk to her.”
"I will, but it's been an unusually long time, she's never taken this long to contact me." Frank stares at Eve when she takes the burger, then nods. "I'll come with you. I don't have anything else to do." he says in the deadpan manner that he's accustomed to speaking in, regardless of his current emotional state.
True to Eve whether she’s in therapy or not, she does a scouts honor motion and nods to Richard, “First thing I'll do.” As Frank agrees to come with her she smiles at him. “I promise you’ll like it there.” She hopes he likes it there.
Polishing off the last of her potatoes and drinking from her glass of water she goes for a cigarette, a noticeable difference from her joints. Lighting the thing she looks from Richard to Frank the orange glowing embers causing the pale skin around her lips to glow hauntingly. “I think this went well.” A smoke covered hand points over to the counter at a plate of cookies nicely wrapped, “For the kiddies.” Said to Richard with a small smile. “Until next time.”