Participants:
| Scene Title | Just Stop |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Initial decisions are made about Magnes' mental health. Which as always come into question. |
| Date | September 01, 2010 |
Siann Hall: Elaine and Magnes' Apartment
It's Wednesday afternoon, and Magnes still hasn't gone anywhere. He's been spending all of his time in the house as normal while Kaylee did what she needed. He's in a Green Lantern t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans with no shoes, laying on the couch on his side, playing KOTOR, which he was letting Elaine backseat play.
The first thing, other than the bookcases of comics, is the fact that this particular room, and possibly the others, are devoid of anything that can send or get outside communication. Instead of a television or any video game systems set up, he simply has a computer and a monitor setup, with no internet access or wi-fi capabilities. There's seemingly no phone, or little electronics laying around. He's been cautious. And the first thing Eileen and Raith are told when they enter, is to remove the batteries from their cellphones. "Hey." is the lazy greeting he offers, looking sleepy with his eyes half-lidded.
Elaine's sitting on the floor in front of Magnes. However, upon the entry of newcomers, she gets carefully to her feet, idly sticking her hands in the pockets of her jeans. "Hey…" She offers similarly, though a bit more cheerful and energetic than Magnes.
The instruction to remove the battery from his phone is chump change compared to the big haul that awaits Raith inside Maison D'Varlane. The fact is, what awaits him in almost frightening: "I've seen burned-out agents less paranoid than this," is the ex-spy's first observation, half-whispered and half-spoken to the side of Eileen's head. And, since he sees no reason to change what is presently going on, offers to all those already inside, "Hey."
Looking around a second time while he pops the power cells from his electronics doesn't do anything to alleviate how insane everything looks. The only way this could be worse would be if everything had been waited white with tin foil lining the walls. "We, uh…" he begins, stopping to rest his face in the palm of his hand. "Eileen, you start. Idon't have any words right now." Jensen Raith has no words? Must be serious.
"Eileen. Raith." Kaylee Thatcher starts, as she stands not far from the couch. Arms are folded across her chest, as she adressed the Ferry higher-ups. "Thank you for agreeing to come down. This…" A glance is sent Magnes' way, out of the corner of her eye. "This seemed too important and I don't know, just how dangerous what's going on in his head is. Cat, Joseph, Abby… I'm not sure they would be the right choice for this situation." She wants, who she feels, are the more militant people of the organization.
The telepath, glances at Varlane again as she starts actually laying out what she encountered within the young man's head. "Beyond the fact, that the guy's memories if full of more holes then swiss cheese. I encountered telepathic commands and suggestions that were not me… A lot of them, but…" Her eyes turn to Eileen and Raith again. "When I found something… I…" There is a pause, head dipping down as she tries to find the best choice of words before she adds, "…think it's a trigger. I didn't look too close. If I accidentally trigger it or something else, I wanted people that could see it happen, and maybe handle the problem." Eyes move to Raith for a moment.
"That's what I found. I haven't touched anything. Didn't want to til, I talked to you both." Kaylee offers, arms unfolding so that she can give a helpless gesture.
Eileen does not assure Kaylee that she did the right thing. Dressed in subdued tones of charcoal gray and black, paired with a high-collared white blouse, wool cardigan and smart black flats that emphasize the small size of her feet, the Englishwoman's prim appearance — save for a few strands of dark brown hair pulled free from the twist at the back of her head where they curl defiantly against the nape of her slender neck — mirrors the expression she wears on her face, pale lips pressed into a thin line and glassy green eyes outlined in minimal amounts of smoky make-up.
She doesn't have her cane with her, but there is a plump periwinkle-coloured bluebird at her collar, and it's studying Magnes with the ferocity of a creature much larger and with sharper claws, more hawk than songbird. "Is there any chance that the missing memories are repressed?" she asks. "I understand if you can't recover something that's already been extracted."
"I know what happened to my missing memories, and I know who took them, they're not something you need to worry about. My memories were altered last year, it has nothing to do with this weekend theory everyone seems to have." Magnes explains as he sits up, pausing the game so he can cross his arms and sit back, watching Eileen. "And I don't want you to bring them back, it's sensitive information."
"It's not a theory, Magnes." Elaine states, frowning. "If it was a theory, then why would there be all this?" She gestures to Raith, Eileen, and Kaylee as a group. "There's something wrong."
"Kaylee, would you mind verifying this claim of 'last year?'" Raith asks, pausing just long enough to remove his sunglasses before addressing Magnes. "It's nothing against you, son. It's just to double-check. Standard operating procedure in these situations, you understand." Shortly after the glasses, off comes Raith's jacket, a light-weight denim affair in contrast to his usual longcoat. It is summer, after all. Revealed underneath is the low-profile bulk of a class II ballistic vest underneath his slate grey shirt, as well as the Glock 18 resting comfortably in a shoulder holster. Just in case, perhaps. "You mind if I get a glass of water?"
"I don't even have to look to know, there is far more holes then just last year in there. That said though, right away when I dropped into his mind, I ran into fairly recent mental tampering. Like within the last few weeks." Kaylee offers to Raith, as she moves towards Magnes, perching on the edge of the couch, "I didn't look too close, yet. Only skimming at that point, trying to see how deep this all goes."
Magnes can feel finger tips, touch the side of his head, Kaylee's eyes shut and brows furrow. "It's.. hard to explain." Her eyes open a moment later, a glance flickers to Eileen, the next added for her benefit. "If I look closer, maybe there is some repressed ones, I don't know. But these recent ones are pretty fake. Not… enough details and… just feels wrong?"
Hands fold and rest on her lap, angling a look at the subject of their discussion, as she's not sure how to express what she sees with ability. "If you want me to go in there and try to undo some of it. I can try… I haven't dealt with some of it, so… it's trial and error. Could take days, depending on the strength of what it is. "
A sigh leaks from Eileen's nose. "The Ferry doesn't have any memory manipulators as far as I'm aware," she says, "and you're the only telepath. Whoever is responsible for the recent tampering likely isn't a part of the network." Her attention shifts from Kaylee to Elaine, a subtle lift of her chin accompanied by tension in her neck. "Has Magnes been behaving oddly at all?" she asks the redhead, her tone firm but gentle, and Elaine's ear for accents identifies her as a transplant from London. "Or at least moreso than usual? Any prolonged absences?"
"Wait, what?" Magnes moves a hand up to his forehead, then lowers it, looking a little unsettled. "When did any of this happen? How could that even be possible? Wouldn't Rebel or the Company know? This doesn't make any sense…" He grunts, laying his head back as everyone seems to speak as if he's not sitting there, but he's too uneasy to make a comment on it. "I have the Company tracker in me, and Rebel's a voyeur, someone has to know something…" He hasn't been watching the news, he has no idea the Company is currently imploded
Elaine nods in response to the question from Eileen. "He left me a note, disappeared on Friday to go to a convention that he'd told me he'd take me to, he made me a costume and everything. Gone for the weekend, and he comes back and he says he's breaking up with me, quitting his band, and joining Messiah because of a 'gut feeling' he has. Pretty odd if you ask me. I had someone double check things, and he did leave the note and check into the hotel and the convention, so I guess he was there, but… I think someone got to him. He was fine before this weekend and then he abruptly changes his mind?"
"The government's been raiding Company facilities all day, Magnes," Raith replies in regards to the youth's question of whether someone would have noticed. His water is, for the moment, forgotten as he begins pacing a slow circle around the room. "It's dead. And now this? Leaving your girl and your band, going back to Messiah. Going to a con and not buying anything?" Finally, the ex-spy stops pacing, stopping just short of Magnes. "You come back from a busy weekend of not buying anything with your memory either full of holes or with scenes that don't fit together right, then this business with the Company, bam bam bam, and you're trying to tell me that some shit is not up?" A shake of his head. "Uncle Sam's trying to work you over, Mags. Just like he tried to work me over back in the jungle.
"But hey, don't take my word for it. Just let Kaylee hop in and poke around a little bit, and we'll see what is real, and what's not. Either way, you've got everything to gain and nothing to lose."
"That was my thoughts." Kaylee says in agreement with Eileen, head dipping into a slow nod. Going silent as the petite woman turns to the girlfriend, the telepath listens quietly. Hands continue to stay folded in her lap, as she watches Raith pace with a touch of amusement.
"So you want me to look through what is there first? Then decide what to deconstruct and what to steer clear of?" Kaylee's brows lift slight as she asks. "It's a tangled web in there. I know I haven't seen all of it."
"I don't want you to do anything yet," Eileen says, "but when you do, I'd like you to avoid getting too close to that trigger until we have a better idea of what we're dealing with, and who. There aren't a lot of people with something to gain from pushing Magnes back to Messiah, and fewer still who know he was a part of the organization in the first place.
"Magnes, you can help us narrow it down even further by giving me a list of names belonging to individuals who are aware of your past affiliations, excluding Rupert Carmichael and any of his people. If you've given any sensitive information to government officials through your work with Tracy Strauss, I absolutely need to know."
"Why would I include Rupert? He's a part of Messiah, he's their tactician. But the list is pretty low. Everyone in this room, Abigail, Sable, Quinn, and, that's it. But, well, I guess I should come clean about this other little thing…" Magnes clears his throat, hunching over to rest his elbows over his knees. "Me and Tracy have a bit of an open dialogue. I don't tell her anything about the organizations, but I do tell her things I think could somehow help her do some good. I wanted her trust so I could have a resource in the government. I told her everything about Apollo, and, she has the robot I brought back." This would be the first time anyone in this room is hearing about the fact that he brought a robot with him.
"One of the little dead raptors, the one who slashed my eye." He briefly taps the left side of his head. "It's in a metal briefcase, I have one key, she has the other, I don't know where she hid the case. I never told anyone else in the government anything. A few months ago I thought about going to Matt Parkman to help me with Messiah, but I decided not to."
Elaine moves towards the kitchen, returning after a moment with a pitcher of water and some glasses. Might as well make sure everyone's comfortable. She doesn't speak, just looking a bit stressed about all of the situation in general.
For several seconds after the revelation, even as Elaine moves to get water, Raith simply stares at Magnes. An even, unblinking stare meant to drill directly into his soul. "You did, what, Magnes?" he asks, "I don't, I'm not sure I heard you right. Because, what I think I heard was something that couldn't have possibly happened. Nobody would be so stupid, that they would not only bring back what could have been a valuable asset without telling anyone, but subsequently give someone they don't know they can trust the key necessary to take it, and turn it over to the enemy." The longer Raith talks, the more serious and, worse, the angrier his expression comes. Even if his anger was not displayed on his face, it would be plainly displayed in his body, his fists tremoring with violent intent that Kaylee will feel, without even trying hard, the man is able to just contain.
"Are you, seriously, telling me that you gave the government the perfect weapon to use against us, and, may have compromised the entire network, and you can't tell us for certain that this is the case, because some federally appointed traitor, did something to your head, and you don't know what is real anymore?" Think very hard before you answer, Magnes.
Hands go up as Kaylee is about to assure Eileen that she has absolutely no desire to touch that trigger anytime soon, when Raith starts into Magnes. One thing Kaylee does is to slide off the arm of the couch as nonchalantly as possible. The young woman has absolutely no desire to get between that man and Magnes.
But then something Magnes says occurs to her. "Wait.. Parkman? Telepath. Molly told me her father Matt was a telepath." Eyes narrow at Magnes in thought, hands perching on her hips as she considers him, "I think Magnes did go to this Matt guy," she suddenly declares. "I think he went to him and then this Matt did something to those memories. The suggestions in his head, might be from this guy."
Kaylee glances at raging Raith and Eileen to see if the same thought has occurred to them.
"Parkman is our most likely candidate," Eileen agrees. "That said, let's not make the mistake of ruling out other possibilities when we have only a limited amount of evidence. If Magnes' memories have been altered, we can't trust that he decided not to consult Homeland Security about what to do about Messiah. It's possible that the conversation took place and he simply doesn't remember it, but it's also possible that we're dealing with someone who has enough experience with his," or her, "ability to ensure that Magnes doesn't remember him at all."
Her voice, although quiet, contains many of the same notes as Raith's but at a softer, more even level. Very rarely when she gets angry does she raise it. "Which means we start with Parkman regardless. Kaylee, I'd like to you take a closer look at the damage done and see if you can give us a timeframe so we know when Magnes' memories were altered. Elaine will need to keep a close eye on him for the next few weeks until we can safely identify the trigger and determine who implanted it, and why. Until then, he needs to stay away from Ferry interests, including Gun Hill and any of the other safehouses the two of you have been exposed to."
"You don't understand. I did think I could trust her. Tracy isn't just some random government person to me, she's not a bad person even though she comes off like that. I really, honestly thought I could trust her. Only two other people knew I had it, Abigail and Sable. I didn't know you'd want it, but if it helps, I have the second key." Magnes points to the bedroom with a quick nod. "It's, uh, in the bottom left drawer, in a second thin wooden layer under Elaine's panties. Elaine can go get it."
One of his two mentors or not, the gravity manipulator does not want Raith going through his girlfriend's panties, or knowing that he spends a lot of money to import some of them. Elaine might not even know. "Since we're throwing out candidates, what about Rene? You know, the Haitian? I mean, I don't think it'd be him. He gave me the choice to gave my Company memories back once, when we were on the George Washington, but I decided not to, for Claire."
"… you keep the key to some robot thing under my underwear?" Elaine's raising an eyebrow, giving her boyfriend a skeptical look. "You would," she mutters, rubbing her head a little as she gets to her feet. No, she'll go get the key—Magnes certainly wouldn't be getting into her panties at the moment anyways. He had other issues. The redhead promptly retreats to the bedroom, returning after a few moment with the key.
"Yeah, the other key, great." With a series of stomps, Raith stalks away from Magnes, just outside of swinging range, because that's the last thing they all need right now: An altercation. "Just what we need to take a look at the robot. That was stolen from us. Perfect!" What Raith really needs is a moment to calm down and get his thoughts together. What he does not have is a moment to calm down and get his thoughts together.
"Rene is not a concern, pending discovery of additional information. What we need right now is to determine how your memories were altered, and to what extent. What they are covering up, and what they now know. That's what we need. That's…." And now, the ex-spy forces himself to take a moment and step away from the situation. Even if he's head of Special Activities, Eileen sits on the Council. That makes her the superior officer, not him. And if her decision is to take it easy while searching for the trigger, that is what they will do.
A wary glance goes to Raith, before Kaylee moves to settle on the arm of the couch again. "Okay… Magnes." She murmurs turning to face him, giving him a small bit of a smile, it's a tight one with not much emotion.
Her fingertips are delicate against her temple, this time a hand reaching around so that she can touch the other side of his head as well. Eyelids slide shut and Magnes can feel her slide back into his head. It's nothing uncomfortable, she tried to be delicate about it.
As she moves carefully through the young man's mind, Kaylee takes her time, afraid of making a wrong move. She treats his mind like a time bomb, just waiting for the right thing to trigger it. Time stretches on, but finally, there is a heavy sigh from her. "Looks like…. The more resent stuff…" Eyes open again and she looks to Eileen. "This past weekend."
"I didn't think anyone would think to look in your underwear. And they're so expensive I think they'd steal those before they go looking for a robot key." Now Elaine knows her underwear is expensive. Magnes frowns at Raith, but not out of anger, he's more looking disappointed, in himself. "I'm sorry," he says, even as Kaylee places the hands on his head. "I really thought I was doing the right thing. I wouldn't have given it to Tracy if I didn't think I was doing what was best. The entire government isn't an evil conspiracy, thinking that way will lead to anarchy."
Elaine offers the key up towards Raith, though the comments about her underwear cause her to shake her head a bit and sigh. She peers towards Magnes. "Now do you see why we wanted you to get out of whatever secret bullcrap you have going on? This is why." She moves to sit back down. "No one ever listens to me."
It is with some residual anger that Raith snatches the key away, although he has at least stopped yelling. Won't do any good now. "Magnes, you need to understand that what you think is right, is not necessarily what is right. Just, understand that." A sigh. We're okay, now. "Kaylee, just, take it easy, just like the boss lady said. We don't want to set the trigger off accidentally."
"Don't worry, Raith. I only looks at the recent damage that Eileen wanted me too. Didn't even dig into it." Kaylee assures him. "I have no desire to set off something unknown. I enjoy living." Her attention then turns to the man sitting on the couch. Joseph might not like her risking the life, she just about lost, by doing something stupid.
"Magnes…" The telepath next to him starts softly, hands resting on the tops of her legs as she sits there next to him, perched on the arm of the couch. One leg tucked under the other. "…your brain has been so tampered with, that I don't think you understand. If this…" A glance goes to Raith. "… robot thing was given to Tracy. Somebody could have gotten that out of your head and by giving it to Tracy… well…" She spreads her hands and gives him a rueful look. "You put her in danger, especially, if this this is as important as you all are saying.
"You watch, it'll get in the wrong hands." Kaylee says blandly, "If it ain't already." She leans over a bit giving him a little lift of her brows. "Next time you get an idea." She points at Raith and Eileen, giving his a smirk. "Talk to them. They know what the hell their doing."
"I do talk to them, I did this before I agreed to really start talking to them as much as I do." Magnes hunches over, massaging his forehead with his fingers. "I have a trigger in me, and we don't know what it does. I need… negation pills. I don't trust myself. I can't be here with Elaine if I don't know what this trigger is, I just can't. That's not even remotely on the table right now."
"Right. So you want to just up and leave when you've got who-knows-what in your head that could go off? Someone has to keep an eye on you either way. Do you honestly think anyone would be dealing with this right now if I hadn't been convinced there was something wrong and Quinn and Sable backing me up?" Elaine folds her arms.
"It's being dealt with now," Raith retorts to just about everyone, "There isn't anything we can do, beyond keeping Wonder Boy here under close watch until we have more information to work with. I can get started finding a place to keep the two of you where our friends in DC are unlikely to find you. Unless we're going to do this different than that." Raith shifts his attention from Magnes, Elaine and Kaylee to Eileen. He's gone as far as he can go. It's up to her, now.
"Well that's something at least." Kaylee says studying Magnes, before sliding off the couch to stand again. "Make sure you stick with it." She adds to the younger man. A flicker of a glance to the Remnant's Kaylee seems to relax some. "Sounds like a plan, at least, glad I called you all." She says with a slow nod of her head.
"Actually, when we leave here. I'd like to talk to you two in private." Kaylee shifts her gaze from one person to another, there is a seriousness to her expression. She has something she needs to discuss out of the hearing range of Magnes and Elaine. "I think you two especially need to hear it from me and not second hand."
"Magnes." Eileen's voice hasn't lost any of its earlier softness. "While we investigate Parkman, it would help immensely if you could come up with a list of everything you've considered telling him. Don't write it down — that's not the sort of thing we want on paper — but keep it mind for a few days and share it with me when I next come to see you." To Elaine: "Thank you. For looking after him."
She turns to leave, relying on the bluebird to show her the way to the door, and tucks her chin into a nod when Kaylee makes her request. They came all the way out here to see Magnes and Elaine. A few minutes alone with Kaylee isn't going to delay them any longer than they'd already anticipated. "All right."
"I'm just… afraid. It's way too easy to kill someone with my ability, I don't want to hurt her. I don't even care if you lock me away…" Magnes tries to insist, but finally just reaches on to the coffee table, grabbing a stress ball, then floats it into the air as suddenly it just tenses. He strains, hard, staring intensely as the ball starts to wobble under some force. "I'll just overload my ability so I can't use it…"
"Magnes, don't be stupid." Elaine says, wearily, looking back over at him with a serious and very tired look. "Don't do that to yourself if you're just worried." She finally lets out a sigh. "Magnes, if you seriously want to go lock yourself up somewhere… fine. Do it. Go ahead."
"Varlane, just, stop." It's not a request that Raith issues, but an order. "Just stop this bullshit. Take some aspirin, take the day off, and do as Eileen says. We'll handle this." When Eileen steps through the door, Raith is scooping his jacket up from where he had set it down, pulling it back over his arms and shoulders before he steps outside after Eileen. In many ways, the sooner he gets out of Magnes' creepy, luddite crash pad, the better.
"Relax Magnes… I doubt anything is gonna happen anytime soon." It's the best reassurance Kaylee can offer as she moves to follow Raith and Eileen. "We'll do or better to get it straightened out. Like I said… you know what the hell they are doing." She doesn't linger any longer, stepping out of the door an into the hall.
Once the door shuts behind her with a click she says simply and softly. "Hiro Nakamura showed up at my apartment a little over a week ago." No… Kaylee doesn't beat around the bush, she doubts they would appreciate it. "Took me to Germany in 1945 to have me block memories of a man who saw and learned too much from people from the future. That's not the worst part, but I figure that might get your attention."
Hands in her pockets she motions them onward with a jerk of her head, since Kaylee doubted they would want to discuss it in the middle of the hallway.