Participants:
| Scene Title | Gillian And Magnes Sittin' In A Tree… |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Two internet friends meet. They aren't kissing, but they certainly are talking about awkward things. Like super powers and John Doe and much left unsaid. |
| Date | May 26, 2009 |
Internet
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The internet is a huge place. Millions of people all across the world use it every day, every minute millions log on and off. Information is transfered from one location to another using little ones and zeroes in various combinations.
One person sits in an internet cafe, using a public computer after paying for an hour, letting the messanger program on a flashdrive she carries load up. Very little on the flash drive besides a few programs she likes to use that she doesn't want to load onto every computer. Gillian has some computer savvy skills, but only enough to do normal things.
J1tt3rBug13 is connected.
And she looks across her buddy list for a certain name. Once she spots it, she double clicks, and starts to type.
J1tt3rBug13: Magnes? You were in Japan the other day, right?
Relaxing for once, sitting in his beanbag chair exploring the internet on his laptop, the knot in Magnes' stomach is finally undone. Then, Gillian, oh crap, she saw the videos!
RobinVI6: Um, yeah, I was, I just came back to America. Why?
J1tt3rBug13: Well I'm guessing there aren't too many guys named Magnes from the US running around Japan. This probably isn't the best place to talk about this stuff, but I do understand what you might be going through.
RobinVI6: Well, don't worry too much Gillian, I think I fixed everything. Can't tell you the details, but I'm gonna be alright. And um, you understand? So… you've destroyed a whole city street that happened to be one of the landmarks of a country?
J1tt3rBug13: …
J1tt3rBug13: Okay, I don't understand that much.
J1tt3rBug13: If you've taken care of it, great. But I was meaning understanding the rest of it. The how, not so much as the what.
J1tt3rBug13: Though there is a block of Staten Island that could say I understand.
RobinVI6: So, you're Evolved? Um, do you mind if I ask what you do exactly?
J1tt3rBug13: I'd rather not say on here. I don't trust computers anymore. :/
J1tt3rBug13: I'd ask if we could meet and talk, but I'm not sure that's safe right now.
RobinVI6: Don't worry about it, Gillian. You just say where and I'll be there in sixty minutes or less.
For a long time there is silence. Gillian stares at the screen biting her lip. The risks are so many that she can't even imagine just how much. When the window gets filled again, a good three minutes have passed.
J1tt3rBug13: Roy Wilkens Park, Queens.
RobinVI6: I'll be right there.
Located off of Merrick and Baisley Boulevard, the Roy Wilkins Park is a plot covering just over fifty acres of land, with a number of features to entertain those from the very young to the very old. Boasting four outdoor tennis courts, a quarter mile jogging track that circles the rec center, and a wheelchair accessible basketball court, anyone visiting the massive park can find a reason to spend hours idling away their time. In addition to these features there is an indoor pool open all year round, and a number of baseball fields - two towards the northern area of the park with a smaller field towards the south end, in the Nautilus Playground, which is just south of a small pond.
For convenience of the park visitors, restrooms are located both in the playground and at the rec center. Pristine, with a relatively clean pond, the facility also hosts a summer day camp, a counseling center, and hosts a variety of community events. Along with the rec center and play areas, there is a jogging path and a series of picnic tables scattered throughout the park, complete with nearby barbecue grills for outdoor eating. Far more than an ordinary park or recreation center, the Roy Wilkins Park is a cultural landmark, home to the Black Spectrum Theatre, an acting troupe given to perform socially conscious drama. The most famous feature of the park, however, is the four acre vegetable garden that gives locals an opportunity to grow their own produce, which is often donated to charity.
It takes around 56 minutes of jumping and leaping, he had to get dressed and washed up. He wears a black t-shirt that says in white letters 'My Girlfriend is a Pilot', and under it is a small Macross logo. On his legs are loose fitting blue jeans, and on his feet are cheap black sneakers. He leans against a tree, wearing silver-rimmed oval glasses, since, you know, he wasn't wearing glasses in the video. And now, we play the waiting game…
Not as much a waiting game as he might expect. Gillian left the internet cafe after grabbing all her things and deleting as much of her personal info off the computer as she could short of starting it formatting. That's another benifit of using a flashdrive as the program instead of loading it on the computer itself. Immediately after leaving, she broke into a run, using her brother's ability to navigate even more quickly than she might have otherwise, and getting to the park. This park has so many memories for her. None as vivid as her memories now. It's those memories that allow her to recognize the young man from the news. The glasses are new, but her new memory allows her to see past that.
Dressed in dark colors, with light make up and hair hanging into her face, she approaches him. "Magnes?" her voice is raspy, almost deep even, like she has a cold of some kind.
Magnes turns his head to face her, eyes widening, slowly starting to approach. As he gets closer, getting a better look, his heart quite possibly starts trying to pound out of his chest. "G-Gillian? You, you're, I mean, wow…" He's a tad overwhelmed, cheeks flushed, suddenly staring at his shoes awkwardly.
"Yeah, I'm hot. Not all people who use the internet are fat guys living in their parents basements," Gillian says, glancing around as if she's suspecting someone will jump out of the sky on top of them. "There's a lot going on that has me suspicious, so before we get too far along… I get that you were trying to save a girl, which is fine— I don't think you're the type to do it for bad reasons, at least… Hell, I'm fucking lucky I never ended up on youtube for half the shit I've been involved in…"
She shakes her head. "Can I trust you, Magnes? Will promise me that you'll never repeat anything said here to anyone?"
"Hot…" Magnes repeats under his breath, just, oggling, staring, he can't help it. But when she starts talking, sounding rather serious, he nods firmly in agreement. "You can trust me, Gillian. No matter what happens, no matter what I do, know that I'd never betray my friends." he assures seriously, walking closer, though he struggles to keep eye contact.
"Good, cause I find out you do and I'll hunt you down and wring your neck," Gillian adds, before glancing around in a paranoid fashion again. "To answer your question, my ability is different now than it was before. Very different. Before I'd just glow or touch you and you'd be able to do exactly what you normally do, only better. I augmented what you did. Or anyone Evolved."
"But, why is it different?" Magnes wonders, reaching out with a shaking hand to try and take her's. "Come on, let's sit in a tree so people don't stare or something."
In a tree… "You realize people will stare more if they spot us up in a tree?" Gillian says with a shake of her head, but she allows the hand to be taken, watching him cautiously for any signs of anything happening. No abilities please. No abilities please. But getting her up to a tree might be mysteriously easier than it should be. Not due to augmentation, but because part of her is able to help…
Even as they go, she explains, "My ability changed cause of this fucker who switches people's abilities. Shoots red lightning. Hits people with it, and their power changes." She's keeping her voice down to avoid overhearers. "So now my ability is in someone else, and someone else's ability is in me."
Unfortunately, he does use an ability, jumping up rather effortlessly with her, landing on a large branch in a pretty large tree, their bodies hidden by the lush leaves. He continues holding her head, but his cheeks are rather bright as a result. He keeps them light enough to avoid a chance of the branch breaking, but heavy enough so they don't just suddenly blow away. "ALright, but um, what's this guy look like? And whose power do you have?"
"Nice," Gillian admits quietly as she glances down at the ground and winces. It's not that she's not a fan of heights, really. She doesn't think anyone saw them, at least. "Well, he was tall, dark eyes, dark hair, fairly built, kind of a caveman brow. In his thirties, or there abouts. Called himself John. But now I have— basically the ability to do… what you can do. And what everyone I've met since can do too."
Dark hair shifts, catching in one of the leaves until she swats at it. "I can't really explain it that well, but just meeting you means I'll probably be able to jump up into trees on my own, if I figure out how to do what you do."
"I barely know how to do what I do, I just suddenly can sometimes, after I believe I can do it. It's just like in a dream, I guess; if you can convince yourself that you can fly, you can fly, it's the convincing that's hard." Magnes hadn't heard of any power switching, but that's certainly something to remember. "I'm asking your permission first. If I don't mention you, can I tell someone about John? I might be able to do something about it, if you want this fixed…"
"I'd rather go back to the way things were," Gillian rasps under her breath, looking down through the leaves as much as she can. The offer is considered for a long moment before she looks back. "All right. You can mention John and the power switching thing. Maybe say you read about it in a chat room or something. It wouldn't be too far from the truth. It's where we met after all. I'm willing to try just about anything that'll get things back the way they're supposed to be."
"Alright, if he's a power switcher…" Magnes pauses, mauling over a theory, staring down at the leaves under them. It's like being in a leaf globe! "Then it makes sense that someone with an ability could take him, as long as they're alone. I mean, unless his power does something else. But I'll talk to some people, I'm sure they can do something."
"Well… when he zapped me it did kinda almost knock me down. So it's possible he can do more than that," Gillian admits, looking over at him. "But I do not want the man dead. I want the powers to go back where they're supposed to be, so as long as they're going for capture and not kill, I'll be good with it. I'll kick his head in once these fucking powers I have are back where they're supposed to be." There's a pause. "You working with one of these mysterious groups?"
"As of a few hours ago, it seems. But what I'm doing is legit, I won't break the law, I wanna do things the right way." Magnes lightly sighs, looking over at her, eyes lingering on her lips, then her nose, and finally her eyes. Staring is rude, but he does it sometimes! "Thanks to those videos, I had to choose between three organizations. I chose the legit one."
"Not sure I like the sound of that," Gillian says, giving him a long look. "Less I know, the better, though. So I won't ask anymore than that. As long as you keep your fucking word on not revealing anything beyond anonymous internet chat room person." Reaching into her pocket, she pulls out a pocket watch of all things. She has a wrist watch, but upon inspection the glass is broken and the hands are frozen. Yet she still wears it. "I should be getting back. Anything I should know about what you do in case I manage to… do it?"
"To be honest, the less I tell you, the better off you'll be when it comes to my power. If you know it, it'll raise the chance you might actually do something." Magnes looks up at the sky, since he has gotten some grasp on how his power works, but not quite. He decides to say, "Just remember, no matter what, the Earth can't tell you what to do, you own it." He gives her rather… vague advice, but he has his reasons, and they're for her own safety. "And don't worry Gillian, no matter who I join, it's for my friends." And maybe a little for him…
"Not really sure it works that way, this thing isn't about knowledge, it's about emotion. If it wants to happen, it'll happen whether I know what it is or not. But whatever you think is best," Gillian says quietly, looking back down at the ground. "Just remember to leave me out of whatever the fuck you're involved in. Cause I really will hunt you down and strangle you." She says, before motioning. "Think you can get us out of this tree now?"
"My ability is complicated, I can only tell you what I know. There's still things I haven't figured out yet." Magnes nods, holding her hand a little firmer, then just jumps. They fall slowly, very slowly, then gently land on the ground below the branches after brushing through some leaves. "And I'll do my best to protect you and everyone else I know, trust me, I'd never get you hurt."
Floating isn't so bad, really. Once her feet are solid on the ground, Gillian takes her hand back and steps away a little. "I mean it, Magnes. What you think is for someone's own protection isn't always. What I want is to be left alone and allowed to do what I want to do, and I'd seriously prefer if no one knew anything at all about me. I've had enough people try to use me for what I can do, all right? Even these people who look legit."
"Stop worrying, I'm not telling anyone about you." Magnes smiles, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a Panucci's Pizza menu and a pen, writing his number on the back of it, then offering it up. "That's my number, and I work at this place, so if you order, just ask for me. I deliver all over, so don't worry if you're not in Brooklyn."
"Look, I have reason to be paranoid, okay?" There were reasons she picked this park. In many ways it's where everything began for her. Taking the menu, Gillian flips it over and has to laugh mildly, "…I think I ordered pizza from there a couple times." Stuffing it into her pocket, she keeps a hold of it. "I'll contact you sometime. Just stay out of the news, Mags," she adds, as she starts to move away from him.
"I will, and it was nice to finally meet you. Um, I think you can do better than a bad boy…" Magnes randomly compliments, but before she can respond or he can be subjected to an awkward situation, he just springs into the air, showing no signs of coming back down, he eventually vanishes.
"…Great. Now I have to worry about banging my head on the ceiling," Gillian mutters as she moves to leave the park. Time to get away from this place and all it's bad memories.