Participants:
| Scene Title | No Matter How You Look At It |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | With a postcognitive's aid, Peter Petrelli, Richard Cardinal, Ling Chao and Griffin Mihangle confirm their suspicions about Peter's recruitment into a terrorist organization… |
| Date | October 14, 2010 |
I'd listen to the words he'd say…
Amidst the dead of night, viewed from the streets of the Upper West Side, the estate of the Carmichael Manor resembles a dark, blocky shadow cast amidst the glow of skyscrapers and street lamps. Surrounded by a cobblestone wall and behind an iron gate fence cordoned off with crime scene tape, the structure is a swath of darkness amidst a city that is consumed day after day by shadows both physical and psychological.
But in his voice I heard decay…
A flash of light on the ground floor briefly flares out through the windows, pinkish-red and fiery in hue, like a quiet explosion detonating in the foyer. Due to the silent streets created by the curfew, no one is around to see it. It's like that analogy of a tree falling in the woods; the answer is, no. Nobody hears it.
The plastic face forced to portray…
Inside of the opulent mansion, the sound is louder and more fiery. A crackle like windborn flames back-masked over the snapping pop of electrical current, followed by an explosion of embers and pinkish-red light, like some kind of color-tinted fire blasting into fire. From the crackling fireworks sparkles, four figures surge into being, briefly lit by the flash of arrival and a huff of heat. It's pitch black inside of the manor, walls looking like muted shapes straight and tall, faint light creeping through tall windows barely outlining carpeted stairs, columns and marble busts on stone pillars.
All the insides left cold and gray…
Shaking his hands rapidly at his side, Peter Petrelli crouches down in the dark, brows furrowed and dark eyes cast up to the ceiling, then over to the short and slim young woman dressed in matching black standing at his side. With a soft click, Risa Lynette turns on her flashlight, pointed down at the ground so as to avoid the glow of sweeping lights by the windows. She's a tiny, delicate thing, long dark hair and birdlike build, she could probably pass for Eileen Ruskin's sister had the two ever met.
There is a place that still remains…
Risa smooths one gloved hand over the fabric of her ankle length skirt, booted feet clunking on the floor as she turns, shining the light towards the stairs, then down to the tiled floor again. One of her hands reaches up, fingering nervouzly at the shiny metal zipper on her hooded sweatshirt, dark eyes down on Peter's crouched form. "Everyone alright?" It's an honest question, he's never been particularly comfortable teleporting with Kris' ability.
//It eats the fear it eats the pain…
Peter and Risa aren't alone, and it's the tall, lanky silhouette of Griffin Mihangle at his side that he focuses on next, rising up from his crouc, before turning to the not so tall and not so lanky figure of Ling Chaos opposite of the telekinetic. "We wait for Cardinal before doing anything," Peter insists, a nervous twitch of his brows ticking them up perhaps higher than conveys comfort.
The sweetest price he'll have to pay…
They're in the dragon's den, and he knows it.
The day the whole world went away
That's the first time Griffin can recall being teleported. He doesn't like it much, a grimace on his face as he appears within the mansion that belongs to that slimy scumbag, Rupert Carmichael. It takes him a moment to recover, and then he slowly raises to his feet. His eyes quickly flare to white, glowing within the darkness as he peers around, all three vectors summoned and ready for the worst.
After a moment, he nods toward Peter. "I'm fine." That didn't feel very pleasant, but he'll live. He glances around to the others, adjusting that ever-present business suit of his, one hand lifting to loosen his tie. Another nod is cast toward Peter at his command to wait, the man leaning against a vector to relieve the pressure on his bad knee.
There is an unstated sense of anxiety floating about the group, and even Ling isn't immune to such a thing, eyes moving about rather quickly as she scans for any signs of potential trouble. Even she is a bit nervous, and it shows despite attempts otherwise. "I am fine, I think. I, however, do hope Cardinal doesn't see fit to keep us waiting for too long," she muses, a glance over to Peter.
The smoke woman takes a few steps off to the side, looking around. Rupert Carmichael's manor wasn't some place she had ever imagined herself coming unless it was to kill the man. Tonight, however, help no such occurrence, a bit to her dismay. "I must ask - are we planning on canvassing the entire house until we find something?"
"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil… for thou art with me… your rod and your staff, they comfort me… amen…"
A haunting whisper echoes in the still darkness of the manner as the shadows stir of their own accord, rising up like spectres in twilight to haunt the quartet of bescarved terrorists that've made their explosive arrival within the opulence of Carmichael Manor. One of those shadows stretches into the downward-pointed light of Risa's flashlight, the silhouette of a man without feet to attach to, as if Peter Pan had once more lost track of his shadow.
"Welcome to Casa de Carmichael, ladies and gentlemen. So glad you could join me… join me…"
Tensing up as he hears Cardinal's voice, Peter's head angles towards the shadow of Richard Cardinal, then shifts a look to Griffin. "No, Risa can't do this too much, her ability is taxing on her and on us. We can't even do the same location more than once, so we're going to need to make an agreement on where we do this." Peter's dark eyes shift focus as he turns to look at Risa, and the brunette offers a slow, tipped nod of her head forward.
"I'm… sorry," the young Russian-American says with a furrow of her brows, lips curving into a frown, "I've… I haven't been practicing. It's… I'm sorry." Hunching her shoulders forward, Risa looks up to Peter, then over to Ling and Griffin, then finally the shadow of Cardinal.
"Hey," Peter shakes his head, lifting up a hand to rest on Risa's shoulder, "easy. We'll figure it out. Learning how to control something like what you have isn't ever easy." Peter turns to look towards Cardinal's silhouette. "I've never been here before, so— I'm not sure where we should go. We only have two chances at this, since I can't borrow Risa's ability and keep Kris'," because if he gets rid of Claire's power, there's no telling what will happen. "You were here before us… any recommendations?"
Griffin frowns, glancing toward Ling, then back to Peter, then to Cardinal's shadow, Griffin has a grave frown upon his long features. The harsh look flickers, however, as he turns to smile faintly to Risa. "It takes time to learn control an ability. Nobody is magnificent without a lot of practice." He chuckles faintly, before turning to peer back down to the shadow on the floor. Interesting.
The severe look is replaced as he glances around with those glowing eyes, taking in what he can see of the mansion in the darkness.
'Just two shots at this' is clearly something that doesn't sit well with Ling, her brow furrowing as she looks at Peter, and then to Risa. "My recommendation," she asserts without being asked, "would be where they found that manifesto of his that I heard they confiscated on the news." Ling begins to pace a bit, thinking to herself as her boots click clack on the floor. She, however, does not have any idea as to the actual layout of the building, so perhaps the deferral to Cardinal is best after all. "Beyond that, I'm afraid I am at a lost for an idea."
"You don't have anything to apologize for, Risa… don't let anyone tell you differently…" A reassuring whisper from the shadow, which falls silent for a few moments to consider the question asked of him. "There's two… options that seem obvious to me. There's a study, an office area that he may have had meetings in… and there's the storage room in the basement."
Cardinal pauses for a long moment, and then explains, "…there's a bolted-down chair equipped with restraints sitting in the middle of it."
The description of the basement room has Peter tensing, an inexplicable wave of nausea washes over him as his brows tense and jaw trembles for the barest of moments. When he realizes what's happening, he lifts up a hand to scrub across his forehead, turning around to walk towards the side of one of the tall windows, peering askance through it outside. "I— can't trust my judgement on this," Peter admits nervously, "I just— had this strong gut instinct that we shouldn't do this, and I… I can't tell if it's me or if it's what Rupert did to me."
Watching Peter's retreat to the window, Risa's brows furrow and her arms cross over her chest, narrow shoulders hunched forward before she turns to look back to Cardinal's silhouette, barely visible on the edge of her flashlight's glow, then up to Griffin who's eyes she can see luminous in the dark, then in the direction of the sound of Ling's footsteps. "I'm…" Risa hesitates at the sound of her own voice, eyes partway closing as dark lashes shadow her irises. "We should agree on a consensus, then? Where… where do you all think is best?"
A concerned look is turned toward Peter from Griffin, a frown remaining etched across his features. Then, he glances back toward that shadow, frowning. "I say that those two sound like our best options for finding anything useful." He frowns. "Those sound like two extremely key locations, and our best bet." Especially that room with the chair. It sounds foreboding, yes, but that's where the postcognition will be the most useful.
"Perhaps— perhaps we go to the office first, and then the storage room?" He swallows faintly, glancing around once more.
"I believe where we should go first depends on what we want more - answers for Peter," Ling remarks with a glance cast off in his direction, pausing appropriately, "or incite as to what Rupert is planning. From what Cardinal has told me, I believe the latter is more likely to be found in the basement," Ling remarks very matter-of-factly. "Thus I believe this would be the best place to start." Arms cross as she looks over to Risa, and then to Griffin. "Helping to repair the foundation before building something new, if you will."
The silhouette upon the floor glides smoothly out of the circle of illumination provided by the flashlight, vanishing into the greater darkness of the manor house… and just a few moments later, the sound of a boot's sole against the floor can be heard, another deeper shadow approaching the group. Richard Cardinal, dressed in black BDUs, steps out into view of the group with a grim expression upon his face.
"It might be a good idea if you stayed up here when we go downstairs, Peter," he suggests in quiet tones, "We'll start with the office… that's probably where he did most of his business."
"Let's go to the— " Peter starts to turn to his right, headed in a direction before halting immediately in his tracks. The word study never makes it past his lips. Brows furrowing, he hesitantly turns around and looks back to Cardinal, then Ling, Griffin and Risa before pointing towards a closed door across the tiled foyer. "Is… is that the study?"
It is, and Peter instinctually knew which direction to go in.
Worriedly making a noise in the back of her throat, Risa takes a step to Peter's side and looks up to him before turning back to Cardinal's silhouette, both of her brows raised expectantly in concern.
Griffin tilts his head toward Ling briefly, before nodding slowly toward Cardinal, apparently agreeing with the newly materialized man. "The study, yes." His hands in his pockets, he moves to follow Peter, before stopping as the other man stops, his brows raised. "The— yes, the study." He hums softly, frowning at Peter. A glance is cast toward Cardinal, then back to Peter.
"Are you going to be okay through this, Peter?" He leans against a vector, one hand reaching up to rub at his face. A nervous habit. "If not, perhaps— perhaps you could keep watch."
Outvoted on where to go, Ling decides to fall silent for the moment, instead of starting an argument otherwise finding a way to make things worse by disagreeing with the rest of the group. Instead, she simply offers a nod back to Cardinal, grimacing as Peter seems to jsut.. find his way towards the study. A look is cast over to Griffin as the Chinese woman steps past him. "Peter needs to see, it seems," she states simply with a gesture of her hand. After his talk the previous day about needing to know, she's not going to let people let him sit out so easily.
"Let's just hope that all've this doesn't trigger something worse in his fucked-up head," Cardinal mutters under his breath as he moves to step in the other man's wake, "He'd teleport away and do something stupid before we even had a chance to stop him…"
"That's the study, yeah," he adds more clearly as he walks for the door, "Let's do this."
Nervous tension bristles through Peter as he listens to Cardinal, the sound of footsteps approaching all the more reason to worry. Fingers curling into fists, he waits for Cardinal to take the lead before following, his heart sinking as a haunting sense of Deja Vu comes over him on approaching the door to the study. What lies beyond the threshold isn't much to see. Wide and tall windows are bare, spilling light from distant street lamps dimly across the marble-tiled floor. The entire room is empty, save for stuffing on the floor where furniture has been slashed open to search for where anything might have been stowed away. Recessed book shelves are bare, stains on the wallpaper where paintings once hung dark and yellowed from cigar smoke.
Tongue sliding across his lips, Peter slowly shakes his head as he looks around the room, one hand up and holding the side of his head. "I… I've been here before," he murmurs worriedly, looking across the long study to a spot by one of the windows. "There— I think there used to be a piano here, I— " he cuts himself off, looking down to his feet, heart racing in his chest.
Nervous, but too awkward to try and say anything comforting to Peter, Risa steps last in through the doorway, her boots scuffing on the tile, hem of her skirt rustling around her ankles as she walks. "I'll need a point of reference," Risa interjects, trying to change the subject, the subtle cues of her Russian accent faint from all the time she has spent in the States. "Either, a date or… an event? If I reach back for something that isn't there, I'm not sure what I'll get, but I'll get something. Typically if I feel without… ah, without focus it's usually the event with the highest emotional resonance that is also the most recent. I ah, it— I'm not sure what to look for."
Griffin nods quietly, following after Cardinal and Peter with his hands still shoved in his pockets. He quietly walks over to where Peter pointed out the piano was once, his brows raising as he peers at the floor, then out the window. Then, he's pacing back toward the group, frowning. He isn't quite sure what to ask Risa to look for; instead, he'll happily do as he was asked, keeping an eye out for any details that could potentially be missed.
The man stands generally near Peter, peering over the room with a small frown on his face as he watches Peter, praying that it wouldn't have been better to have left the man in the hallway.
"I don't suppose you know anyone Rupert has met with?" Ling inquires, looking back at Richard with her arms folded across her chest. She is secretly hoping that the man who has been playing information broker lately does have some unspoken thus far tidbit to drop on the group at large.
That, however, would be too convenient.
Pacing, the Chinese woman looks around the emptied room with a rather wide frown. "They have certainly cleaned out this room. Finding any…e vidence of what has gone here may prove a very distinct challenge indeed."
"I wonder if Mitchell's been here…" It's a quiet, thoughtful comment from Cardinal was lke walks through the office, noticing the ransacked state of the room - slashed pillows, emptied book shelves, it's obvious that the authorities were being quite thorough when they went through the room. "…they were close, after all."
"I could try looking for him," Risa comments with a furrow of her brows, walking over to one of the tall windows, casting a long shadow along the floor as she walks. Peter remains silent on the topic at first, his brown eyes scanning the room with distant, haunted familiarity. As he walks, a look is offered to Griffin in his silence, then back to Cardinal's corporeal figure, then finally to Risa, but only in as much as he's staring out the window past her.
"I've never— I don't remember being here. Rupert has connections with a lot of government people, but I can't say for certain if he ever met any of them here. He has a connection to the Maxwell development company too… but I don't think it was public. Like— he was hiding money with them, something like that."
Peter turns a look to Ling again, eyes focusing from their thousand-yard stare. "Maybe we could go back? A week? A month? I— I don't know." Peter isn't sure of where to look, and for that matter neither is Risa.
"Try…I don't know, a little over a week? Some time before everything went wrong." He frowns, glancing toward Peter with a faint shrug. He's still new— he really doesn't know what to look for. Ah, the wonders of a somewhat mindless subordinate position. He doesn't mind it too horribly much. "Maybe try to see something in the days before the insanity happened."
Hands are shoved into his pockets, the man seeming to lean back against the air, glowing eyes sweeping the faces gathered. He's especially keeping an eye on Peter, though it's hard to determine this with the gleaming white of his eyes. A pair of Vectors has been hovering over the man since he first faltered, just in case something goes wrong and Peter needs to be subdued. While Griffin is a fairly trusting fellow, he never was much of one to take enormous risks.
"Mitchell. That seems like something that could work. It's hard to say how often he might have been here, however, or what was spoken about. Mitchell alone seems like a risky choice…" Ling sighs, looking askance over to Peter. "Moreover, with the way the government has seemingly turned on Rupert… whatever plan he has now, I highly doubt he and Mitchell are still aligned." A sarcastic huff of a laugh follows, Ling shaking her head. "Then again, I have been surprised more times than I can count lately."
The tips of Cardinal's gloved fingers trail over the edge of the wallpaper where a painting once hung, tracing the edge of yellowed stain there before turning slightly to look back to the others. "Let's make this simple," he says quietly, "We know his plan, roughly, if you believe me. What we're looking for is proof for you to believe me… evidence to back up my claims, right?"
He gestures to Peter, "Just look to when he was last here, then."
Risa arches one brow, slowly, her brown eyes focused on Cardinal and then look to Peter with wide eyed and evident nervousness. Peter's expression is, perhaps, more resigned. Letting his head sink into a slow nod, he moves over to lean up against the wall beteween two windows, then begins slouching down to sit on the floor. "You'll all want to sit," Peter admits with a look askance to the light of street lamps casting a grid of shadows thorugh the windows, "or you'll wind up on the floor without your say. Risa's ability is— intense."
Apologetically dipping her head, Risa too moves to sit, pulling up her dress as she does to kneel on the floor, slouching back and locking her elbows as she rests her weight down on her arms, palms flat on the cold, tile floor. "He's right, it— it'll come all at once when I start and you'll be trapped in the vision as long as I can concentrate on it. Some— sometimes that's longer than others." Depending on if what she sees terrifies her.
"Just… brace yourselves, if I get something wrong there's no telling what I'll show you or how far back it will go." Sliding her tongue across her lips, Risa closes her eyes, then slowly opens them as her pupils begin to dilate.
Griffin nods slowly toward Peter, easing himself down to a seated position on the floor, using those vectors to help himself. He grunts a bit as he does so, his face twisting into an uncomfortable grimace, a combination of the weather and the resent activity. He's still got a pair of those unseen arms hovering over Peter, his eyes concerned as he watches the man.
Then, Griffin turns to watch Risa expectantly, rubbing his fingers over his lips as he waits for this intense vision he's due to experience to begin.
Ling takes Peter and Risa's warning as no joke, immediately moving over to a wall, sliding down to the floor in a somewhat awkward manner, settingly uncomfortably with her back propped against the wall. "I assume there are no worries of anyone who might be nearby… hearing or seeing whatever it is we see while it happens?" She can only hope, at least.
"I've experienced it before," Cardinal says, stepping over to lean against the wall… arms folding over his chest as he settles himself in securely there, head falling back against the stained wallpaper behind his head. "Let's see… what we can see," he says quietly.
Neither Risa not Peter answer the question about if anyone nearby will experience the vision. It is a very strong likelihood, truth be told, but if anyone was close enough to experience it, that's a whole different problem. A moment later, Risa's pupils swallow her irises and the vision of everyone around her blurs and distorts, shimmering and shaking before washing away entirely as furniture begins to fade back into place where it should be in the room. Everyone's perspective remains where they stand, but the images they see around themselves are of the past.
The recent past.
Snow falls outside of the tall, red-curtained windows within the study of the Carmichael Manor. The soft clink of ice rolling around in a tumbler comes as Rupert Carmichael rolls his wrist, sloshing a tiny bit of Whiskey in the bottom of the glass around. Seated in a high-backed red-upholstered chair, Rupert's brows furrow as he considers a man standing with his back to him by the windows. "Listen to reason…" Rupert pleads, sitting forward to cradle his glass in both hands at his knees. "You did good things for PARIAH."
Turning from the window, Peter Peterlli offers a narrow-eyed stare at Carmichael, hands tucked into the pockets of his slacks, black suit jacket and white button-down shirt looking crisp and clean. That he isn't wearing a tie makes him look just a little more casual than Rupert as well. "PARIAH was a terrible idea, they were monsters. What they did only made life harder for us and you know that!" Peter throws his hand aside in a sweeping motion, anger visible in his face. "I didn't nearly die out there on the ice just to turn my back on a chance for a normal life! I earned that!"
Rupert slouches back in his chair, exhaling a huffed sigh as he reaches out to set his nearly empty glass down on a table beside himself. "You know, Peter… I'd really hoped things would've been easier. Without what happened to Erim, I don't have the necessary thread to lace PARIAH back together again. Sure, I have some muscle… but I need a face." At that revelation, Peter's brows furrow and eyes narrow, a scowl crossing his lips. "The world needs PARIAH, Peter, to set it on the proper course."
"Go to hell, Carmichael. I'm not having any part of this. I have a job, a life, I have someone I care about! The war is over Rupert, and we lost. Let it go, and make due with what you have." Turning for the door, Peter snatches his wool peacoat off of the back of a chair, throwing it on over his shoulders and flipping up the back against his neck. "We're done here."
"Peter," Rupert murmurs fruratedly, " Don't go so soon. " The moment Rupert's words reach Peter's ears, he halts in place, eyes wide for a moment as Rupert begins to rise up out of the chair behind Peter, like a cobra slithering up from a coiled heap, ready to strike. When his mouth opens again, there—
The world snaps back into view, and Risa recoils from the vision, a whimper and a hand thrown up to her head. "No!" she shrieks, scrambling away from nothing. Peter looks momentarily transfixed, hesitant to do so much as move, staring vacantly ahead before blinking away confusion, recollection, Deja-Vu.
No one really feels like leaving the study just yet, though.
It's an unusual, uncomfortably, and obviously unnatural feeling.
Griffin's white eyes travel to the windows as everything changes, a frown on his features. Then, his eyes drift over to Rupert and Peter, widening ever so slightly as he watches the interaction. He knew he didn't like Rupert, but this…he leans forward as Rupe rises out of the chair. The snap of the real world coming back to view has Griffin shaking his head furiously, rubbing at his forehead.
Perhaps it is a blessing that they did not get to see what Rupert said next, otherwise things could have happened. He remains in his spot on the floor, stunned as he stares at where Rupert was sitting moments ago. No words come out of his mouth, the man merely sitting and recalling the memory, a frown creasing his face.
Ling's expression as she views the vision Risa has produced for the group remains largely stoic - nothing that terribly surprises her, to be honest. It falls in line with everything she's been told by Richard, and everything she's been fearing for weeks now.
What she hadn't been expecting was the uneasy, uncomfortable rooting in place she was experiencing, eyes moving around from person to person as her arms tighten around her. She's not cold - she is more unnerved than she's felt in some time now.
As the vision's torn from them violently, Cardinal's hand slams in against the wall to keep him from falling - a sharp slap of his palm - and he pushes himself straighter as the world snaps into view. "I… shit. I nearly forgot about that," he mutters under his breath, one hand lifting up to rub against the side of his face, his eyes closing, "Well, we know that he recruited you here, Peter…"
Peter doesn't— look good.
Visibly it's not certain why his expression is so blank, save that his thousand-yard stare has returned with a vengeance. Just before Risa manages to open her mouth to ask if he's alright, Peter levers himself up to his feet, pushing away from the wall, brows creasing down, jaw trembling, and a scowl cutting across his face that makes it look as though everyone in this room were the target of his blame. When he turns around with fist closed, he slams it into the wall between the windows. Drywall shatters, wallpaper tears and knuckles split from the simply human strength of the punch.
The growl Peter emits comes with his hand pulling out from the hole in the drywall, shaking pieces of sheetrock off of his hand, bloody knuckles slowly sealing shut and healed. "I'm going to kill him," is strained thorugh Peter's teeth and clenched jaws, a fire not unlike any he's managed to have for his righteous indignation as head of Messiah burns behind his eyes.
"Where are we going next?" is sharply asked, impatiently, and as Risa weakly pushes herself to her feet, she's lifting her hands towards Peter in dismissive motions.
"I'm— I'm not so sure… I don't…" Doubt creases worry lines in Risa's face as she turns to look at Cardinal, then Ling and Griffin. Hopefully someone else will have more concrete advice on where next to look for clues, or whether to or not.
With a grunt and the sound of multiple hands thumping against the ground, Griff floats up for a moment, before setting himself easily on his feet. A concerned look is cast toward Peter. Then, Griffin is turning toward the door, fighting the urge to stick around and making his way toward the door. "The basement would be our best source for answers, I am certain." He casts a brief frown back to Peter, those vectors still hovering only a foot above the man's head.
Then, the telekinetic hands thump against the ground as the man walks toward, using them instead of his cane. His hands are slipped into his pockets as he leads the way out, though he waits on Cardinal once out the door. "That is, if we want to risk exposure to Rupert's ability again."
Well clearly, Ling had been wrong about answers for Peter lying within the basement. Which only left her that much worried, internally, as to what would await them should the same trick be attempted around a chair with manacles. And yet, she can't help but angle a smirk Peter's way - not because of his anguish, but because of his resolve. "I wonder if the trip to the basement is worth the risk," Ling says, still in her spot on the floor. For whatever reason, she seems largely unwilling to move yet. "We know how he got to Peter, now. The basement is likely to be a persuasive minefield. Perhaps there is another room we can look to, to fnid out what Rupert is planning exactly."
There wasn't anything in that vision that hasn't been stated so far, that wasn't theorized and reported… but seeing isn't the same as hearing, and there's more than a bit of wary concern in Cardinal's expression as he regards the Petrelli for a long moment after the drywall has shattered into flinders beneath the man's angry fist. As his friend's healing ability works to repair her uncle's knuckles, he pushes himself slowly away from the wall.
"I've got to agree with the others," he says, his gaze lingering on Peter still, "With what probably happened in that room… trying to view it might be pretty fucking dangerous."
Reason is like ice to Peter's fire, his throat tight and brows furrowed. With his mind racing, there's nothing but rage simmering behind his eyes, rage and anger and spite and all of those sick feelings that Rupert had originally pushed into his head that are onw his to feel all he wants. Scrubbing the back of his hand, smearing blood and white powder together into a pink mess, Peter looks down to the floor.
"We have another shot," sounds a bit callous, but measured. "We shouldn't leave without looking somewhere else." Brown eyes angle towards Risa, one brow lifted. "You're sure you can't do this room again?" The question has Risa looking away, teeth drawing over her bottom lip and her face hidden behind a curtain of long, dark hair.
"I— I don't know?" Brows creasing together, Risa look up to Peter with an imploring expression. "I'm not— I— it's never worked before, but… I haven't exactly tried hard, I'm… maybe if I was looking for something else?" For as apologetic as Risa sounds, Peter steps closer to her, his dark eyes narrowing as he flicks a piece of drywall down to the floor.
"Don't know, or won't try?" He's taking a tone with Risa, and it's admittedly not a particularly fair one either. Risa's eyes widen and the young Russian girl slouches away from Peter, her hands withdrawing into the sleeves of her hooded sweatshirt, eyes averting from Peter as he waits expectantly for her answer.
"Easy, Peter." Griffin's glowing bluish-white eyes are undoubtedly focussed on Peter as he peeks his head into the door, a frown on his face. Peter is likely to feel a hand briefly and gently touch his shoulder, though no hand is there. "Don't give the poor girl a hard time. Rupert is the one you are angry at." Griffin's voice is calm as he speaks to Peter, frowning. "Save that anger for him, you'll do no good turning it on those who are on your side." The man shakes his head, the unseen hand withdrawing from Peter's shoulder.
Just a little reminder to mind his manners.
"In any case, it would be taking a great risk to view any more scenes from the past here. We could easily end up brainwashed in very serious ways. Were it not for this young lady's pulling back, we may very well have all been put under the same effect he put on you." Griffin gestures toward Risa.
Ling looks between Risa and Peter with her brow furrowed, taking a few strides towards the postcognitive, and hand placed on her shoulder as she looks at Peter. "I am always one for using the necessary means available. However, it is in our best interest to let Risa at least rest a moment before continuing. We do not want to burn out our best means of discovering what it is we need to know."
She turns her gave over to Risa, wrinkling her nose. "However, I do believe that Peter is on to something, about at least attempting to view events in this room once more. This certainly is not a room he minded conducting business within. It is hard to say what else might have occurred here. What else he may have written, or whom else he may have met with." A glance over to Grffin, and then back to Cardinal, before she settles on Peter, a thin, devious smile on her face. "As for Rupert, I am sure you will have plenty of help in murdering him where he stands, Peter."
As a slender asian hand drops onto Risa's shoulder… a gloved one falls upon the other, the protective shadow of Richard Cardinal suddenly there. The look upon his face is somewhat harder than usual, the roguish facade replaced by something that suggests he likes Risa more than Peter if it comes down to the line.
And he barely knows the woman.
"I'm going to go down on record as saying that any more… looking… is a bad idea," he says in quiet tones, regarding the power mimic steadily, "You know that you've been fucked with now. We know his plan already. That should be enough."
A long, steady stare is leveled from Peter to Risa, enough that the brunette is shrinking back more, until Peter's dark eyes break away from the young woman, considering the counsel of both Griffin and Ling before looking to Cardinal; ice once more trumps fire, and Peter's eyes shut and head shakes as he admits something that must imply he has some sort of brain damage.
"Richard's right." That much is quietly admitted, and when Peter's eyes open, he's glancing back to Risa and exhaling a sigh. "I'm— I'm sorry. For…" he trails off, looking back to the window. "No, Cardinal's probably right. We can't risk exposing ourselves to Rupert's power again. I— I want to know what happened down there, but…" Peter's eyes shut, head dips down and his hands ball up into fists at his side, then slowly relax. "We know what he's going to try and do, we know— we know what he did," but not enough to admittedly satisfy Peter's curiosity.
"We should go. I know what to tell the others now," Peter admits with a heavy heart, dark eyes drifting up to Cardinal. "What's your next move?"
As if he'd tell him.
A slow nod is offered, and Griffin slips back into the room once more, joining the group. Truth be told, he feels better now that he's in the room, despite his knowledge of Rupe's ability. "Good. I— wasn't relishing the opportunity to view more of the past of this place." Glowing eyes trail around the room thoughtfully, and each of its inhabitants.
"I'm sure we can rip the full truth about what happened down there from him ourselves, when we catch him." No ifs here. Griffin likes being inspirational when he can.
"So be it," Ling responds, pulling her hand from Risa's shoulder. "If we are to find Rupert before he moves his plan too far along, however, we must act fast. So, yes, Richard. I am curious as to your next move as well." She turns to face the shadowmorph with arms crossed, eyeing him carefully. "We still need to see what we can do about the remaining members of Messiah, and who may have been… tampered with, if nothing else."
If only Richard lived in a world where being right as often as he is was a good thing. He'd gladly be regularly wrong if it meant that things weren't quite as terrible as he feared.
"My next move?" The hand on Risa's shoulder squeezes it firmly, then slides slowly down as he admits, "I've got some people working on ways to block the broadcast, to… lessen the chances of turning you and everyone Rupert's ever had contact with into homicidal fucking maniacs on the eighth. I don't know how to safely repair what's been done to you, though…"
He looks at Peter for a moment, "Find Rupert. I don't care how — detective work, clairvoyance, find Molly Walker and buy her a giant teddy bear if she'll help you — but until his tongue's cut out of his persuasive little head, I don't think I'm going to sleep that well at night."
Slowly sliding his tongue over his teeth, Peter allows his head to bob insto a steady nod. "If we don't stop that broadcast," Peter worries with a slow shake of his head, "exactly how many people do you think Rupert's been able to affect, teaching at Columbia all these years? Entire classrooms full of students, auditoriums and lectures, people who wouldn't even be aware he did anything to them." The horror of the situation sets in to Peter, the gravity of what is looming over them in just a few short weeks' time.
"There's a cell of Messiah that Rupert abandoned, myself and a handful of others. We think he has Knox, Rickham, some of the other heavy-hitters still loyal to him, wherever he is." Peter sweeps his stare across Ling, Cardinal and Risa.
"We don't know if we can trust Rebel so we've stopped using the phones, but we have a few people who at least want to stop what's going to happen. It's not much, but I think I might be able to find a few more people willing to help." Peter's brows furrow, head tilts askance as he looks down to the floor.
Looking back up to Cardinal, Peter furrows his brows. "We're gonna' have to work together on this. I'm gonna' put my ear to the ground, see if I can dig up a couple old friends from Moab that Rupert didn't rope in yet… while I'm gone," Peter's brows tense, attention flicks to Ling, then Griffin, then Risa and finally down to his feet.
"I guess… work together while I'm gone, see what you can figure out. I'm planning on holding a meeting next week, you're welcome to come, Richard." Peter's eyes finally lift up to Cardinal. "We need to keep each other in the loop."
Lips downturn into a frown again, and Peter looks away as he says, "I'm sorry I doubted you."
Griffin's expression darkens, despite his glowing eyes, as Peter explains the seriousness of the situation. He frown, shaking his head, his fists clenched at his sides. That is a particularly horrifying situation, and one that he wants to prevent. He straightens slightly, peering over the faces of those gathered once more, a silent confirmation that he will be helping.
At mention of Moab, Griffin's brow raises slightly, and he tilts his head toward Peter, his brows raising slightly. "I have three potential candidates." He leans against a Vector, and it looks like he's just casually leaning against the air. "First, as you know, is Alexander Knight." He nods toward Peter, before taking a breath.
He doesn't want the next two to help…but Marjorie won't shut up about it, and they need the help. "Second is my sister, Mackenzie Mihangle. Force Field Generation. She has expressed desire to assist our cause." His eyes turn down toward the ground. "Third is Nadira Karim. Hydrokinetic."
Ling gives a bit of a scoff, shaking her head. "I am afraid I have spent far more time making enemies than friends. The only places I could look for assistance are… the Ferry, which I am sure there are people far more qualified than I, and the Linderman Group, who I doubt will be willing to lend Messiah much aid considering the situation I am sure they will find their selves in before too terribly long." She lets out a sigh, beginning to pace a bit.
"I can however keep an ear to the ground. See what information I can scrounge up. As I told Peter yesterday, I have been dealing recently with member of the Ferrymen who is at least capable of identifying who has been tampered with by Rupert. I can have her speak to as many of us as she is willing to. At the very least, she informed me that Magnes Varlane has been tampered with. As much as I am loathe to, he might be someone to keep an eye on."
"Eh," Cardinal's gloved fingers brush vaguely through the air as if to scatter the apology to the winds, "I'm used to it. You listened in the end, is what matters…" A little late, perhaps, but he listened.
He draws in a breath slowly, eyes closing behind the shades, and then he breathes out. "Rebel's been compromised, and they're aware of it," he explains tersely, "Wireless is working on the problem, I think. Claire's currently in my custody - Carmichael's all but driven her completely fucking insane, though. My people are already working on the broadcast issue - try and find Oleander if you can, by the way, Peter. Liz is fucking livid that he got dragged into this."
Griffin gets a bemused look, "Alexander's still in the game? Well, I'll be… he's a good soldier, if he's willing to fight. And — Ling, that wasn't Rupert. I know who it was, and it's unrelated. Don't worry about Magnes, he's fine." Back to Peter, he nods once, "I'll be there."
"Jesse…" is Peter's response to Alexander's name, followed by a slow curve of a smile. His head dips down into a nod when Griffin mentions other help that haven't met Rupert before. "Alright, Griffin. If you trust— if you want to involve your sister, bring her in. If you think we can trust the hydrokinetic, I'm trusting your judgement. We could use all the help we can get if Rupert makes us fight our own allies."
Peter turns to look at Ling, offering a slow, steady nod. "See if you can get— her to check Griffin out," Peter slants a look to the telekinetic, then back to Ling, "at the very least. I'll be by to see her soon, Claire too," Peter admits as he looks over to Cardinal, his lips downturned into a frown.
"Risa." When Peter calls her name, Rise'a dark eyes grow wide and she stares up at him with nervousness, tension in the shoulder under Cardinal's hand. "Stick close to West and Kris, let me know if they start doing anything strange or talk to anyone." After their argument at the last meeting, he has to be sure of who he can trust, though it makes it hard when he can't even be sure he can trust himself.
"As for Alexander," Peter's brown eyes angle back up to Griffin, a smile spread across his lips. "He's welcome with us as soon as he's ready." If Peter can't trust himself, he can surround himself with people he does.
And people he can trust to do the right thing if he ever is turned against them.
He knows Richard Cardinal wouldn't hesitate.
