Participants:
| Scene Title | It'll Take Them Weeks To Find Him |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | If a gravokinetic screams in the woods and there's only two other agents to hear him, do they care? |
| Date | June 2, 2009 |
Cabin in Adirondack mountains
Poor Magnes.
Really, the guy never saw it coming. Not at all.
Heading out after his training, he had no warning.
*Twip*
A tranq dart embedded in his shoulder blade and Minea looking above him. "Good night Magnes" To lull him off to sleep. Or death. Depends upon what he was thinking of.
But it wasn't really death. He'd feel like death warmed over.Taking advantage of his floating state, they had herded him into the SUV with gentle bumps, being careful of not overly manhandling him. Minea was not a happy camper. Once he was in, a syringe was produced, uncapped and tilting him a bit, in the meat of his thigh he was injected with a full dose of suppressant. That would cure any nasty little attempts to use his ability to get away.
"We'll talk with Len afterward. We'll see how bad it is first" as Magnes unceremoniously thumps down onto the back seat. "Got your camping gear?" A blanket tossed over him. Not that they were going camping for their health and they weren't going to some namby pamby camping site. Nope.
So a good few hours later, things have been sorted in a cabin in the remote woods of the Adirondack. A fairly pioneer affair, a fireplace with a fire going to take out the dampness of the place. gear squared away when Magnes starts to come to. He's tied to a chair, little plastic zip ties, not handcuffs. There's the smell of chili being heated on a wood burning stove as well, Minea's pretty good at this roughing it thing. The guns and another syringe are in plain view beside the woman as she talks with Veronica. "Could always bury him mile out. Take em weeks to find him, decompose him enough before they do. Especially if it's shallow and the animals get to him a little first" So she's joking, having heard him start to come around. Scare tactics you know.
"True. And you know, he's just the type to think he could handle hiking all by himself, throwing caution to the winds, because of his power and all. No one would suspect a thing. Or if they did… probably think it was one of those other groups he's managed to piss off with all his exploits on the television and all," Veronica says.
$t
She's leaning back in a chair, feet propped on the wall as she uses a Swiss Army blade to clean her fingernails — of course, her nails are actually professionally manicured, so it ruins the image a bit.
Magnes groans, looking around, their discussion immediately raising alarm in his eyes. He struggles, tries to switch, increase, lighten, anything with gravity. It doesn't work, nothing works, what's going on? "What's going on? My ability, where are we, what's going on?"
He looks panicked, pulling at his restraints harder, but he just can't do a thing without his abilities. "I feel so weird, I'm so heavy."
'Varlane, so good of you to join us!" Minea says it so perkily. "Just a little cabin, little place I rented. We thought you should, you know, at least have some place nice to have your last meal and all. Hope you like Chili con carne" THe older of the two brunettes turns around, wiping her hands on a rag. "That's because we turned it off. Don't need you doing some really pesky like thinking you can run off on us now, no no no, can't have that"
Veronica gives a little derisive bark of a laugh. "So heavy… so mundane. You can't do anything with your power, hm? Some of us function without any Evolved ability, you know, Maggie." She lets the chair fall forward with a clump on the plain wood floor and gets up to go stand in front of his chair. "Any guesses why you're here?"
Magnes tries to roll over, but just ends up laying on his side, groaning quite uncomfortably. "Give it back, I hate this feeling! I'm, so stuck, I'm trapped on the ground!" Still panicking from his loss of power, he tries to struggle more, though his secure bindings don't allow him to do much more than stay firmly planted on his side. "I don't know! I didn't do anything! Let me go, I can't be down here, I have to get up!"
"Tutt Tutt Magnes" Minea moves over, looking down at the younger guy. "You forgot to say please" There's a one cornered grin as she leans over, offering up a small spoonful of chili for him to try. "Maybe we should refresh your memory?" There's a glance to Veronica.
Veronica kneels down so she's a bit closer to Magnes. "Now… I'm pretty sure when you got the whole Company tour, someone probably told you that you're not supposed to go tell everyone what you do. That it's sort of supposed to be a secret? I am pretty damn sure that was in my welcome wagon speech. Wasn't it in yours, Minea? Or maybe Magnes thinks he's special, that he can get away with things, because he's a celebrity."
"This is a trick, I didn't tell anyone, you can't fool me, I can tell this is a test!" Magnes apparently trusts Xiulan and Abby that much, he truly doesn't seem to believe they know anything. "If I told anyone anything, then prove it, tell me what I told and who I told it to!"
"Hmmm, no… no I distinctly remember being read the 'keep it a secret' in my super secret government division handbook" The spoon is tossed towards the sink after Magnes refuses it, licking off what was on it before doing so. Minea mimes opening a book and flipping open a few pages before nodding yup. Yup. Right there under the whole your cover is homeland security it reads .." Minea crouches down too beside Veronica. "Don't. Tell. A. God. Damned. Soul. God boy, not even a week in and you already and telepath are having fun listening to you!"
Veronica reaches out to Magnes's shirt collar and drags him up to a sitting position, pushing him against the cot in the corner. "Do you think," she says with a shake of her head, crouching over him, her face inches from his, "that they would put as much money and resources into our training and into keeping our whole agency a secret without checking up on you? You know what kind of powers exist in this world — did you really think you were going to get by without having someone listen in on your thoughts and conversations, Maggie?" She's a very different girl than the one that recruited him.
Magnes is quiet, staring at Veronica with a 'how could you' frown. "I thought you were nice…" he says with sincere disappointment in his eyes. "Fine, I told, I had a whole plan. If you're gonna kill me, I may as well tell you." Glancing over at Minea, "Right?"
"Get it off your chest Magnes, so that when we're done with you, you're at peace" Guy thinks we're gonna kill him, that's good. Maybe he'll understand the importance of it all. "If Veronica wants to hear it." With that, the older agent heads back to the chili.
The younger brunette rights the chair so she can sit in front of Magnes, staring down at him with her dark eyes. "She's really disappointed in you. You know, it looks bad for her, 'cause she's training you and all," Vee says, with a mock pout. "But I'll listen. Tell me. It better be good, because I don't know if I can get the bosses to take back our marching orders, you know, Mag?" she says. "What the hell are you thinking? I just can't understand what would make you risk your life and our whole integrity like that." Another sad, sad face.
"I was gonna stop registration." Magnes starts with that, looking into Veronica's eyes when he does, because frankly, she makes the experience slightly easier. Minea's just scary. "I'd let Miss Minea train me, learn all I could until I became an official Company agent, on the field, and then I was gonna try to work my way into learning the main locations of all physical and electronic registration files." Taking a breath, a brief look to Minea to make sure she's not sharpening castration tools, then he continues. "I was gonna work out a plan with Phoenix, while not telling them I work for the Company, then I was gonna try to find out if a technopath exists, I'm not sure if they do or not. Once I found one, then I just needed a power augmenter, and it would all happen in one night. First Phoenix would destroy the physical registration files, then the power augmenter, after much practice with the technopath, would destroy every registration file on record. Registration gets set back a few years, we have time to plan a permanent solution, and the Company is the only organization left to regulate the Evolved. I keep my position, and don't have to worry about the government scaring children into committing suicide."
Minea's not sharpening Castration tools. She's leaning against the counter, watching Veronica work.
Veronica puts a hand on Magnes' shoulder. "So this is all to end registration? Who do you know at Phoenix, that you were going to plan this all out with, Magnes? It's important you tell us… we might be able to protect them, but if someone else gets to them before we do… it could be dangerous for them." She shakes her head, glancing back at Minea, then back to Magnes. "Who do you know in those organizations? You're putting people at risk every time you tell someone what you do, Magnes. Everyone in this town — you never know who they might be working for. You might tell the wrong person, someone who you think is your friend, but they aren't, not when they know you're working for us."
"I don't really know who's working for who. The only person I really told was Abby, if there's anyone I can trust, it's her. I didn't wanna tell her, I swear, I thought I could just tell her I'm doing 'something', but not what exactly, like I did with Xiulan. But Abby, I couldn't say no, she insisted. I only told two people anything at all." Magnes answers with sudden regret, because, well, if he didn't tell anyone he wouldn't be about to die. Damned telepaths. "Xiulan says she's gonna tell someone else I'm doing something, and I think it's Cardinal. I can't stop her, and I don't trust him, I wasn't sure what to do about it, and if I came to you guys, well, look at where we are now." Then, just out of the blue, he stares at his crotch, "This is all your fault."
He's talking to his.. balls? "Okay so Abigail, Xiulan and Cardinal possibly, got any last names to go with that or shall we bring in the telepath?" Veronica is glanced at then back to Magnes. "Tell me Varlane. What should we do with you? What do you think is appropriate to do to someone who can't keep his mouth shut?" She picks up her own hunting knife, opening up the blade.
Really.
Slowly.
"Don't blame this on being a guy, Magnes. I mean, it excuses a lot of dumb things, but not this. You don't put girls you like into trouble, and then blame it on liking them. It's a lack of common sense," Veronica says with a shake of her head. "But answer Minea. What do you think we should do about this? How can we make this right? As it is… we're probably going to have to do something to make sure all those people don't spread this nasty gossip."
"I can fix it." Magnes quickly says with a hint of confidence. "I know Abby and Xiulan, I know how they work. I'll tell Abby that I worked something out, that I don't have to work for you guys anymore. She seemed pretty upset when I mentioned the Company, so I guess she at least knows of it. I'll say I don't work for you anymore, I'll even say that my powers are suppressed, so I can live a normal life again, she won't suspect that I'm still doing anything." God, powers suppressed, when he says that he squirms in his seat again. He obviously hates not being able to move. "As for Xiulan, I never told her specifically what I was doing, I just said I was doing something for the government. She's been begging me to get out and stop whatever plan I have, so I'll just tell her that I worked things out too, and that I'm not in danger or doing any sort of plan. We're about to start dating, so that should work out pretty well, she'll just forget about it in a week. As for Cardinal, Richard Cardinal, I think that's his last name people usually use, I don't care what you do with him as long as you don't kill him."
Minea sighs once more. So heavy, so drawn out. "I meant, Mr. Varlane, what do we do with you hmmm? I mean, three people, possibly, that we know of." Back she comes, parking one foot up on his this on the seat. "So you told your little girlfriend there, Xiulan, that you were just working with the government. Have you told anyone else that your working for the government? Lets see if what you say, matches up with what the telepath has to say hmmm?" The hunting knife is used to clean her own nails now.
"Is this Xiulan or this Cardinal like you, by the way?" Veronica says curiously. "You know. Special." She leans back against the wall, making herself comfortable, it would seem, for Magnes' story.
"I told Tracy Strauss that I got a pardon, she didn't believe me, but someone else confirmed it. I don't really know the story there, I barely told her anything at all, since I don't really trust her." At the mention of Tracy, Magnes idly licks his lips, as if remembering something. "They're, well, like me. Xiulan doesn't do anything dangerous, it's harmless. You can lift up my shirt to see her ability, so, please don't take her in, alright? She's really harmless…" But then there's Cardinal, and as much as he'd hate to admit it, he doesn't feel bad about ratting on the man. "Cardinal, he um, turns invisible or something, I'm not really sure. As for what you should do with me, well, I still want to work for the Company, I never, ever intended to actually betray the Company, I just wanted to stop registration."
"Xiulan's last name?" Even if Magnes promised to tell them he'd quit… Minea knew better. She reaches over, minus the knife, lifting up magnes's shirt and studying, looking for whatever hint might lay below as to what Xiulan's ability might be.
"Another person…" Veronica says with another disappointed shake of her head. "Magnes. Abby, Xiulan, Cardinal, and Tracy Strauss? What do you think anyone who has a clue thinks when you say 'I'm working for the government but I really can't tell you for who'? With your power? It's not like they're going to guess the FBI came along and asked you to work for them, you know." She leans forward to see what Magnes has beneath his shirt, brows lifting curiously.
"I don't know Xiulan's last name, I'm sorry." Magnes answers, then his head quickly jerks down when she lifts his shirt. There's a modestly sized circular dragon tattoo on his abdomen, in orbit around his belly button. One likely doesn't expect him to be the type to sit for that kind of work, or even afford it. "I wasn't thinking, alright? I just, I don't know, I'm sorry. What do you want me to do?"
Minea reaches out, touching the tattoo. That's when she knows there's something off. She's littered with them herself. Up her arms, shoulder blade, places seen and unseen, visible and invisible to the eye without the proper light. Abruptly the woman turns away, heading back to the counter. Her hand bypasses the gun and goes for the syringe before heading back to Magnes. "Say goodnight Magnes"
"Too many people. There's a saying that goes, 'two can keep a secret if one of them is dead,' Magnes… but there's now four people out there who know what you do. And you can't use the Company for your plans to change the world. The Company uses you, not the other way around," Veronica says, her whiskey-brown eyes solemn as she imparts these words of wisdom that will likely be wiped from his memory at some point anyway. "Sorry, kid." She gives him an apologetic look as she watches Minea approach.
"Wait! I…" Magnes starts squirming, trying desperately to rock the chair away from the needle, but he's not budging. "This isn't fair, I just wanted to help, I didn't do anything wrong!" He closes his eyes, waiting the needle as tears begin to quickly stream down his face, appearing completely defeated and helpless.
"that's just it Magnes, you did" The cap pulled off, Minea reaches in with deft hands and slip sthe syringe just under the skin and depresses the plunger. It's the company standard issued, measured out for his weight. Minea withdraws the hypodermic, watching him, waiting for him to go under, which is frankly quick, before she sighs again. Nighty night Magnes.
Against the chair she bends the needle part before capping it and looks to Veronica. "We need to tell Len" Like she doesn't really want to but… "Lets get him back, toss him in a cell in 2. I'll start looking for… Chinese tattooists? and invisible men, you got Abigail?" She has a sinking feeling she knows which Abigail. "Unless Len says different"
"I'll call Len while you drive. Let's get him in the truck, get back to town. All this fresh air is making my nose itch," Veronica says, getting off the cot and moving to the slumped man, and heaving him up so they can drag him to the truck outside.
"I wanna hel—" Magnes is quickly cut off by the syringe, slumping, going completely limp. This is the end!