Participants:
| Scene Title | Lunatics |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | The idea is a little crazy, but the hope is it won't end with the freedom fighters' sanity being questioned. |
| Date | June 27, 2011 |
Skinny Brickfront : Endgame Safehouse
It's after breakfast. The food has been eaten and cleared away, and most people have gone on to other tasks. Lacking other tasks, but to play watchman and stand vigil at the window in the common room, Devon is instead sitting beneath it and staring into a cup of coffee. Clad in his very typical jeans and t-shirt, a hoodie worn today for some change, the boy sits on the floor with his legs crossed and folded in front of him, hands wrapped around the mug to keep in the warmth of the liquid. He still appears tired, weary, and chances are the sounds of mourning haven't been as well hidden as he'd have liked. But far from brooding over his own failings, the thoughtfulness of his expression has become more meaningful and less self-destructive.
Elisabeth has been keeping a careful ear open for him on a regular basis. As she heads back in to refill her coffee cup, blue eyes glance toward Devon and she smiles faintly to see the expression. He's working through it, that much she can tell. After getting her coffee and doctoring it liberally, she meanders back his way. "How goes?" she asks mildly.
Devon's eyes tick up at the question, his head following to lift a little as he looks to Elisabeth. "It's going," he answers, voice still edged unevenly from lack of sleep and emotion, but the answer is honest. He grins slightly, a half upward pull of one side of his lips. "It's still…" He shrugs, deciding not to finish that line of thought. His eyes dip to his coffee again as he continues. "Just doing some thinking."
There's a nod and Elisabeth moves to sit next to him. "It's a process," she tells him quietly. "It takes time to really let it all absorb. You'll be okay, kiddo." She sips her coffee.
"Yeah." Devon's agreement is quiet, accompanied with a small nod. He lets a silence weave its way through, not the uncomfortable, awkward sort, but a moment or three where his mind drifts. "I was thinking about what you've said," he offers into the quietness, "about exposing Humanis First as a last effort to fight back."
Resting her head back against the wall, Elisabeth nods curiously. "What about it?"
"I just… I thought working against a smaller target might be easier." Devon looks up at her again, straightening so that his back rests against the wall. "Might make going after the bigger target easier in the end, too. Like a tower of blocks, removing the lower pieces to topple the ones on top."
Elisabeth's blue eyes turn to him thoughtfully. "Lay it out for me," she invites quietly. "Taking out the support structures makes sense, but we know that Humanis First is a highly compartmentalized entity. And not all bigots are part of it even if they agree."
"Right, though they've got smaller cells that support the larger in some manner or another." Devon hesitates, mouth hanging partially open as he gathers his thoughts. "What… What I think we should try is…" Dangerous, foolish, and reckless all come to mind. His brows knit together briefly. "We don't have the bodies for a frontal assault, but we have enough here for a couple of teams to basically become pests. To start chipping away at their resolve."
It's something she's considered at various points, but Elisabeth has dismissed it each time. "At the risk of sounding like a pessimist, the primary goal we have right now is making sure that anything we do can't cause the message we want to send to be dismissed as the ravings of lunatics. So… what exactly do you have in mind?"
"A strike against Eltingville," Devon answers. He watches her as he continues, only the briefest of pauses following his response and further explanation. "Small groups designed to gather information and harass the guards and security points around the ghetto. —There's lots of ghost stories and urban legends about Staten Island, too, and… We don't have to be the ones looked at as lunatics."
Elisabeth looks thoughtful. And she grins slightly. "Now that could be a bit of fun, I suppose." And possibly useful. "Although we'd have to be very careful that nothing we did could rebound on those incarcerated in Eltingville."
Devon responds with a small grin of his own, eased by Liz's expression. "Ultimately, we could gain enough intel to bring people out of there. But first, like you said, we'd have to be careful." He glances to his coffee cup, then sets it on the floor near his hip. "What if these ghosts began with warnings, omens. People see us first, just enough to wonder if they saw anything at all. Then signs begin to appear that the keeping of prisoners is no longer accepted. Things begin to happen."
She looks thoughtful. "I wouldn't be averse to the idea," Elisabeth says slowly. "Harrying the guards is a useful occupation if it nets us intel on the weaknesses of their security."
"We could find out who's there, too." Devon's hands come together, forefingers steepled and pressed against his lips. "Not just who's being made to live in the ghetto, but who's running the show, too. Plus the amount of information we could get just from scouting. Any part of it could be used to expose the upper levels of Humanis First, too."
Elisabeth nods. "Talk to Ygraine and Jaiden," she finally says. "We can put together scouting parties. Graeme and Aric are both still able to walk the world, so it's possible they could even get in there and talk to people."
Devon nods slowly, arms dropping to hook around his knees. "From what I understand, it's difficult to get in. Graeme said he'd tried to get approval to teach in there, but never got an answer. —I… actually have some ideas thought out. What we need to find first, what would be helpful. Start of ideas for things that Graeme and Aric could get for us. A bunch of things to go over with Jaiden."
She's impressed by the idea that he's already working on specifics. "All right," Liz replies. "Tell me what you need from me on it, and when you guys have worked out specifics, let me know. I'll want to keep apprised, but …. first things first." She smiles a little, the expression holding a hint of strain. "I need to go see a man about funding or not funding our video."
Devon refrains from going into further detail at the moment, a quick study of Liz expression deciding it's better to delay. He'll flesh out the plan more and talk with those he was told to first. "Yes, ma'am," the boy instead offers with a dip of his head. He lifts up a hand to gently squeeze her shoulder, offering her his support. "Whatever happens, we'll make it work. With or without funding."
Elisabeth smiles faintly. "Yes. We will." She has absolute faith in being able to get things done. "I refuse to sit on the sidelines. In the timeline that we've already seen bits of… I'm dead. For a lot of it. It is these years, the next five or so… that my actions have any chance at all of changing things." She shrugs a little. "I have to do something, or averting my own murder means nothing."
"There's plenty of time to sit on the sidelines in the future," Devon points out with a small grin. "Right now there's work to be done and we're forfeit if any of us choose to watch." He lightly squeezes her shoulder again, then withdraws his hand. "I'll find you later to go over specifics, and bring in Jaiden and anyone else I can round up."
Elisabeth nods a bit. "Sounds perfect," she tells him with a smile. "Jaiden's got a pretty good tactical head on his shoulders. Monica does as well, plus she knows the rooftop avenues. And Ygraine knows alot of the underground of the city. So they're all good resources."
A nod follows Elisabeth's words, Devon offering a small smile. "Good luck with the funding," he says as he picks up his coffee in one hand. He stands, then offers his free hand to Liz to help her up.
She takes his hand and climbs off the floor with a grimace. "Not even sure I want to go over there," Elisabeth admits. "Lord knows if it's going to just degenerate again," she adds on a sigh. "But it needs doing. So… I'll see you later." She ruffles him and takes her coffee cup to rinse it out before she leaves.
"We can take turns holding him while you punch," Devon calls after her with a grin, before turning toward the hall to set into his own business.