Participants:
| Scene Title | Glad To Be Of Help |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Helena explains to Romero how he can aid in the Miracles project. |
| Date | September 14, 2008 |
New York Public Library : Rooftop
Helena's on the roof of the library. It's where she spends a lot of time, actually - at least, enough so that it might border on eccentric, though not at the behest of her duties and obligations. But enough so it's obvious. Messages are passed as they are prone to do, and at first to Romero it's 'Helena wants to talk to you' and then it's 'Hel's looking for you' and when he'll finally come around to inquire, there'll be surprise conveyed when they inform him she's on the roof. It's like her default start point. Looking for Helena? Try the roof.
If not for that whole 'shocked the hell out of her and almost got blown off the roof last time' thing, he'd probably just have done his somewhat uncomfortable tesseract trick. But it's better, in the end, to do it the more conventional way. He almost got caught pulling himself through his own chest by one of his coworkers a couple of days ago and he had to come up with a somewhat plausible excuse about his time studying contortion in India. But once he's asked around a little, it isn't too hard to find Helena, and so he steps out onto the roof and regards her for a moment or two before clearing his throat to announce his presence.
And there she is, seated not far from the edge, her knees pulled to her chest as she gazes out over the city. It's almost exactly how his brother found her a day or two ago for their own private conversation. She looks over her shoulder, face half hidden by a fall of blonde hair. "Hey," she greets. "C'mon over. Have a seat."
Romero heads over in that direction, moves to take a seat not far from her, glances out over the city and then back at Helena. "I heard you wanted to talk to me," he says. "At least partially through Teo." He grimaces faintly at this — Teo is not his favorite person, and he makes no secret of it whatsoever. But he's not calling attention to the fact right now.
Despite the autumn chill, the air around Helena is much warmer. Enough to be comfortable with having a conversation up so high, at any rate. "Has anyone mentioned the Miracles project to you at all?" she inquires. "It's what I wanted to talk about with you. Well, that and your ability in general."
"It was brought up," says Romero. "Not many details, but I gather there are things you want to do, places I can go, maybe?" Teo was not really big on specifics, but considering the words that Romero was hurling around like knives, this can probably be understood. "Tell me?"
"I wanted to do something that would create a different line of thought when people considered the Evolved." Helena begins. "To be able to look at us with hope instead of fear, and to see that we're people who can be good or bad. It's easy to think about the bad, so I wanted to have our first official act be something good. So I came up with the Miracles project. We're going to post a countdown on the internet. It's probably going to send HomeSec into a tizzy, but that's the idea. At the end of that countdown, there won't be an explosion or an assault. What they'll have is a day of miracles. Abby, our healer? Is going to cure a child with cancer. Jennifer, our duplicator - she's been making enough meal kits to stock all of Manhattan's homeless shelters. I'm going to be doing some things with the weather, probably draw in some clean rain to help with erosion in Midtown."
Romero ahs softly, nodding his understanding. Giving something to the world. Yeah, he can get behind that, maybe. "It makes sense," he says. "If they fear us, they will not accept us, no matter what they do. So lessen the fear." He pauses a moment, one brow raising. "And then, what would you have me do for these miracles, Helena?"
Helena pushes her hair out of her face, gives him a smile. "I want you to work with Jennifer. I'd like you to be the delivery system for her care packages. We can get you out and about if you need to see locations before you can create connections. Teo has also suggested you attend the healing with Abby to help her get out faster, but it takes a lot out of her."
"Not locations," says Romero. "People. I create connections between myself and another person, so I'll need to know somebody at each of those locations where the packages are to be dropped off." He rubs his face thoughtfully. "I can get Abby out easily enough. She will just have to step through me — or somebody else with her. I think that will be easy enough to manage, though."
Helena mms. "That makes it harder. I didn't know if you could be the portal internal yourself, and we could just push things through you. Kind of like what you did to me. But I'm sure we can arrange it. We may have to take volunteers for anchor points, but we'll make it work."
"I have to have an anchor, yes. Or, in this case, several." Romero taps his fingers against the rooftop thoughtfully. "I think if we speak to some of the workers at the shelters, or perhaps even some of the homeless, they will allow us this invasion. And I have little doubt that the parents of the child would give this much to see her cured." Pause. "Or him."
Helena shakes her head. "They can't see it coming. It's going to be a surprise. We'll set the anchors up in our people and have them go out very early for you to make the transfers."
"That will work as well," says Romero, nodding. "I will not need to be present at the healing, at least. Abby may step through me, out of the other, and then the other will be able to vanish as well." He pauses. "I can maintain only one of these gateways at a time, however. So we will have to alert them to a window of time, perhaps?"
"Teo is going as Abby's backup." Helena says quietly, studying his face. "Will that be a problem?"
Romero looks strained for a moment. He does not like his brother. It's safe to say that he -hates- his brother. But there is a child with cancer who is to be healed, and for all that he would rather not see his brother ever again, he can't stand in the way of that. "No. I can connect to him more easily than any other."
Helena nods. "Alright then. I'll make sure you meet Jennifer and get some anchors assigned. You can work with Abby to sort out how you can best help her."
"If Teo is already in place at the hospital, she can step through me and him," says Romero, "and then step back once the healing is complete. Jennifer and I will need to work things out, yes. Thank you."
Helena's smile widens. "I'm really glad you're here, Romero. Your ability is going to be invaluable, and I know you're a tough guy. Thank you for doing this."
Romero smiles somewhat wryly. "I do what I can for our cause," he says. "It is the cause of all evolved. And if we do good for others in the process, I am glad. But this is not what I am used to." He waves a hand vaguely. "But I am glad to be of help, Helena."
 November 14th: Reversible |
Previously in this storyline… Next in this storyline… |
 November 14th: Make Me a List |