Participants:
Scene Title | From the Mouths of Baby SESA Agents |
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Synopsis | Cassandra makes a joke, only some of us have lived time travelers before!! |
Date | March 27, 2018 |
Red Hook
There are relatively few places in the Zone that have cell service and such… but Megan just so happens to work in the emergency department of Elmhurst Hospital. Which means, at least when she's at work, she has it. Things have been insane on the streets, and her street-level clinic for those who are still too skittish to visit the hospital has been abuzz with a LOT of rumors lately. Ghosts, sewers, stolen food, and now toss visions into the mix. It's the visions that alarm her — after having lived through the 2010 visions, the redhead is not thrilled at the resurgence of such events.
So what's a girl to do? Wanna know what bossy redheads do? They pick up the phone and leave messages for cute little SESA agents who claim they're just here to help. And they leave a message requesting a visit and information on where and when said agent might locate the person leaving the message in the Market. Because Meg's street clinic is not exactly a single place.
Let's see what cute baby SESA agents do with it.
Cute baby SESA agents? That’s Cassandra!
Cassandra wasn’t at her desk when the first message came in. It’s just after her voice mail hung up on the second whenever she made it back into her office. Briefings about her discoveries beneath the streets of the safe zone and on her experience with the visions at Yamagato Park took up a large portion of her morning. Still, sitting in her chair and rubbing her eyes, the blinking light of waiting voicemail beckoned. Typing in her code, the message played.
*beep* Hi, this is Megan Young, we met the other day in the coffee shop. I have some things I would like to ask you about regarding rumors in the Zone — please meet with me when you can. I'll be in the Market Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Or call this cell and tell me where and when to meet and I'm there. *beep*
It’s been a little more than ten days since their initial meeting in Prufrock’s books, so getting a call wasn’t something entirely expected, but it’s nice to know she’s been remembered. And since community outreach is a thing on her job description, Cassandra called the cell number that was listed, left a message that she was on her way, left note of where she was going with the front desk and headed off to the market to meet with the red-headed medic at the spot she said she’d be around lunchtime.
Arriving at the market doesn’t take long. Most of the city moves through the place, after all, and she quickly finds herself heading down a particular street to find the clinic.
It's really just a small storefront that no one so far is using. And Megan is just closing the door behind her, a massive EMT duffel over one shoulder, when Cassandra makes her appearance. The redhead looks… well, she's perhaps not as cheerful as she's as in the bookstore, her blue eyes conveying concern.
"Hi," she greets the younger woman casually. "I appreciate you making it down here. Walk with me?" At least to somewhere they can actually sit and talk — the empty storefront that's a makeshift clinic isn't really conducive to that. If anyone finds her in there, she'll likely be too busy to talk. Although one might get the impression that Megan turns away no one in need. Ever.
“Sure.” Cassandra in her SESA ‘uniform,’ as she likes to call the basic outfit she wears to work falls into formation next to the redhead, opposite the shoulder with the bag, walking with her through the market. “I was surprised to get your call.” She shifts her bag to the opposite shoulder, allowing the pair to walk closely without bags slamming into each other. She doesn’t pry about what this conversation is going to be about - she simply watches as they move through the crowd.
"Well, I'll try to make sure it's a social call next time," Megan replies with a bit of a grin. Her demeanor remains just a little less than upbeat. "Listen… you might not be quite up to speed on the kinds of shit that went down here in 2010. Hell, if you didn't live here, you might have been too young to even hear about it much," she grimaces. "But people I've been seeing the past couple of days are eighteen kinds of freaked out. A lot of us lived through widespread psychic visions back then… and the were warnings of things to come. No one I've been seeing was actually there, though."
She seems reluctant to finish her thought, as if in some ways maybe she just wants to duck her head and not be involved. But that's not in her nature. "I was really hoping you might be able to ease my mind a little," she admits. When she meets Cassandra's eyes, she has a soldier's eyes and she asks frankly, "Is there trouble coming?"
They finally stop in a quiet out-of-the-way spot in the market, outside of the rush of people going past doing their business and find an old park bench to sit on. The promise of a social call next time - that gets a smile from the SESA agent - but the questioning that goes on? That gives her a more somber look. She nods slightly to the assertion of what went on before - she was young, and only now has heard anything about it, mostly thanks to experiencing it herself a few nights ago.
“Well…SESA is working on it.” She knows that’s a lame way to start, but it’s the best she can say at this time. “With Yamagato being its own entity, getting in and investigating things is, frankly, impossible. We do know of two unique events; the first was a replay of traumatic memories for everyone in the park and the second, which happened more recently, was temporary amnesia followed by the replay of a memory and a massive headache.” She goes quiet for a second. “I was in the park for the second event.”
“The question at hand, though…is there trouble coming?” She goes quiet for a second. “I think so. But from where and from who? I can’t tell you. And if I could, I would.”
SESA is working on it is a phrase that simply brings a vague snort from the redhead. It's the to-be-expected answer. Megan listens and the more Cassandra talks, the tighter her body language. Moving to set the duffel down against a wall, Megan leans back against the brick, putting both her hands behind her. She finally managed to quit smoking. Hasn't done it in two years. And now she wants a cigarette. It's an unfortunate barometer of exactly how bad her reaction to this is.
Pulling in a slow breath, she nods. "So because of the political wrangling, SESA really can't do shit, except talk to the people who were in the park. Most of whom know jack and squat about what happened to them anyway. And you've got no access to security camera footage to scan for active Evos on the grounds." Megan's tone is flat — nothing she just said is a question. She's lived the bureaucracy her whole adult life.
"Can you tell me anything else?" she asks mildly. "You know… maybe what the speculation is right now?" Because this rather smacks of The Company. And she knows a few people who know a few things.
Cassandra fully expected that snort - it’s the thing that she did when she learned of SESA’s inability to act. “Without Yamagato inviting us in, our hands are kind of tied as far as investigation goes. Nothing but interviews outside of the park. No security cameras, no logs for access, no questioning of Yamagato personnel at all. Just a polite ‘no comment’ and then poof, they vanish into their park. I mean, I was there for the second event and put in a report as best I could but…as you might imagine, amnesia doesn’t make for good reporting. Even replaying the scene just showed confusion.”
Cassandra leans back against the opposite wall, thinking out loud. “That’s the problem with speculation. Without any evidence, we’re kind of just spit-balling answers. Initial speculation is just that. Crazy theories with no solid answer. Mind control technology leftover from the war. A Yamagato experiment gone awry. Someone practicing their evolved ability but somehow it’s limited to the park…. although the second one went a little into the neighborhoods surrounding it. Time Travel Experiments to send and receive messages across dimensions. Aliens.” that last one has to be a joke but the others? Including time travel? It shows how limited their knowledge is.
Megan is simply sighing as Cassandra talks… until that last moment. Something she said causes the nurse to go sheet white. Please, dear fucking God, tell me that shit isn't starting again. Time displaced children of the Ferry still live in this time and place. A literal squad of them. Cassandra may have been joking, but… Megan has lived certain things that she would never wish on anyone.
Swallowing hard, she tells the agent, "I owe you a coffee. Call me next week, okay?" The tone is one of I gotta go, and Megan isn't able to hide it. She leans down to reshoulder her bag, and when she stands up straight again, there is a very serious expression in her blue eyes. "Cassandra… be careful. If it's something that actually is happening because of stuff Yamagato is doing? Well… it wouldn't be the first time shit's gone seriously pear-shaped because of people messing with shit they should leave alone."
Cassandra blinks at the sudden shift in tone - from disdain over the government to something else entirely that put Megan on high alert. “Wait…wait.” She lifts a hand. “Coffee next week sure, but what are you thinking? What little bit of knowledge set off this chain reaction?”
There is a long moment where Megan looks at the young agent. "I could tell you a lot of things here, Cassandra. Most of it you wouldn't even believe. Some of it… I lived it and I'm not sure I believe." Her eyes cut sideways, though, and she looks … not worried. But definitely like there are things going on in her head. "I need you to … give me a little room on this." Those eyes that come back to the agent are weary. "I'm an old soldier and I've lived through a massive government conspiracy… I don't want to assume that it's still happening, but sometimes I can't help it. If it does turn into something, I won't leave you hanging. If it's nothing… I don't want to bring anyone else into my mental landscape."
Cassandra looks at Megan for a good minute or so, finally nodding. “I may not look very old, but I’ve seen a few things…been a few places…to know when it’s best not to dig. I’m going to step back on this. Conveniently forget to mention any of this unless someone else does first, and even then? Just thought of it. Didn’t hear anything from anyone on this. That meeting I was supposed to have with Megan? She got covered up at the clinic and we didn’t have a chance to talk. I should probably reschedule to see if she knows anything but, with all the goings on ‘round these parts?” She shrugs. “Who knows when that might be.”
“Just…don’t go it alone. If I can do anything, let me know. SESA agent aside….screwed up things happen all the time, and it’s my job to try and make sense of it all.”
Megan suddenly laughs outright. "Wow… I don't think you need to lie about meeting me, Cassandra." She can't help but appreciate that the younger woman jumped that bandwagon with such enthusiasm, though. "I don't have any intention of going anything alone. I have an old friend who might have a little insight on the thing that jumped into my head when you rambled… he'll grouse that he's retired now — it's a lie, he and I both know it, just like the fact I'm retired is a lie — and either he'll tell me I'm crazy and then spend the next three days debating whether he wants to nose around it a little or he'll tell me I'm crazy… and it'll be in a tone that tells me he already knows something and is looking into it and I'm three steps behind, as usual."
The man in question obviously is a special one, if the amusement and affection are anything to go by. "If he really does think it's something, I'll give him your name, okay?"
“Okay.” Cassandra nods, shouldering her bag. “Just let me know. You have my number, but you might want to try the cell phone next time. Voicemail can leave tracks that can be followed pretty easily, even if you can’t see into the past like I can.” She taps the side of her nose with a grin. “Just warn be before you start handing out my number to people, okay? I’m a SESA agent, not a party trick.” She’s teasing, trying to bring levity into the situation
"Fffft," Megan retorts. "The hell you say. I'm making commission, lady!" She winks. "I promise, no heroics. Some of us… we're just hardwired these days to watch certain things a little more carefully." She shrugs. "The oath doesn't have an expiration date." With a smile she turns on her heel and starts to head back the way they came … circumstances have changed her intended destination.