Of Prophecies and Illnesses

Participants:

kaylee_icon.gif diogenes_icon.gif

Scene Title Of Prophecies and Illnesses
Synopsis Kaylee wants to show Diogenes the prophecy she's been researching lately. Her illness catches more of his attention, though.
Date September 11, 2009

New Jersey


It's been several days since Kaylee returned to New York, and she's only that day gotten around to calling Diogenes. But then he never came across as a casual chatter to her, so she didn't call til she wanted to show him something. She asked him to meet her outside a certain building in New Jersey. She picked it cause it wasn't far from a bus stop.

When he finally get there, he'll find Kaylee leaning up against the wall, decorated with this various gang graffiti. Her shoulders are hunched some, head hanging a bit, her face is hidden by the bill of her ball cap she's wearing. Her hands are buried in the pockets of her dark blue hoodie, while a back pack hangs from on shoulder.

It isn't long before a bus noisily slows down to a halt at the bus stop's side, the old and worn brakes screeching in an annoying manner as the mountainous vehicle stops by. The doors squeal open just as loudly, freeing those who wish to get off. One of them happens to be Diogenes, who carries his usual facial expression, that of indifference and apathy. His eyes lazily scan the surrounding area in search of Kaylee, and for once, his studious gaze fails to grasp what it seeks.

A few languid steps lead him to nowhere in particular; unlike others, who quickly rush past him towards their unknown destination, he wanders about aimlessly, whilst trying to find Kaylee. Today, the young man is wearing his usual apparel - a simple jacket, a white shirt with the top two buttons undone, and dark denim jeans, in the pockets of which his hands hide.

The sound of the bus catches the young woman's attention and Kaylee's head slowly comes up. There is a small smile touches her lips when she sees a familiar figure. She gives a sharp whistle and brings a foot up to push her away from the wall, "Dio! Over here." The blonde looks rather pale, almost sickly when he gets closer, but she still manages to smile and wave him over. "I figured you'd just leave me high and dry." She teases a bit, tugging on the strap of her backpack settling it on her shoulder better. "Glad you decided to humor me."

The whistle catches his attention, although he reacts to it rather slowly. Usual signs of sleeplessness are evident, though they are not exaggerated to a degree that would imply that he is having a particularly horrid day. Quite the contrary; he's had a terrific night's sleep for a change. Diogenes was simply reluctant to arrive, and like a child, wanted it to be visible that he's not all that happy to be here.

"Over the phone… You said you have something interesting to show me", he murmurs, walking towards the unusually pallid blonde telepath. "Now, I know our definitions of the word diff— Woah, what happened to you?" Since he is comparatively taller, the grimly dark crouches down ever so slightly to peak a detailed look at the girl's visage. "Radiation sickness? 'Cause if so, I'm gettin' the hell out of here", he mocks with a parody of terror on his own face.

"Yeah I know…" Kaylee grins studying the man, "That's why I didn't give it away. I wanted someone to come with. Plus.. your amusing. You can insult me and call me names after you've seen it and heard what I got to say." She wrinkles her nose a bit at the comment about her condition, "Just been under the weather for a few days. I can't shake it. Upset stomach…. Sometimes I can never figure if it's better to just throw up. Cause I hate this feeling." She motions to an alley with her head. "It's this way. I haven't gone to see it yet, waited for you." Turning, she starts that way. "So how's the Sandman thing coming along? Anything good?"

Diogenes inspects Kaylee's condition for a little while longer, and although it might seem as though he's merely mocking the poor blonde, he's actually taking in all the vital details that might allude to what might be wrong with the blonde. He hasn't been studying that biological Bible for years exclusively to hone his ability, after all. However, there is only so much you can pick up from a superficial visual examination, and so he marches on at the telepath's side, following her.

"Is it some kind of meteorite that crashed in here two thousand years ago, and you accidentally unlocked unpspeakable evil that hid within it?", he asks obviously in jest, looking ahead of him; one of his hands has escaped the confines of his pocket and is rather wildly cutting air expressively. "Or have you discovered an escalator to Hell? You know, it's really boring that we have abilities, but have no superpowered mutants, creatures or demons to use them against?.. This is what happens when God gets drunk. Just half of the job gets done." Perhaps it was a mistake to bring Diogenes along?

"Funny thing you mention God and Hell…. That's part of the reason we're here." Her voice echoes on the walls of the alley. "It's at the backside of this building. I want you to see it before I explain why I came here." She glances over at him with a grin. "You'd be surprised.. I actually missed your rambling. Seattle I was sick to my stomach.. and LA.. well.. That was a bit more interesting. Especially when one of Adam's gang.. this illusionist. He decided to cause a bit of a panic at Disneyland." Her eyes gives a little roll and she shakes her head.

Walking out of the alley, Kaylee's head is already turning towards the back wall of the building. The sun washes over a large patch of graffiti, "Oh yeah.. the new articles were right." She moves to where she can look at it, her head craned back a bit.

What is she looking at? A large black circle is painted on the back wall this this building. The black pain runs in sections, but it's the numbers 12-12-09 painted in fire engine red that look especially eerie with trace of red paint flowing down the wall like bright blood.

Even throwing a chunk of potassium in a bowl of water is less dangerous than trying to open this man's eyes. Not only is he a sceptic, but he is also a nihilist. And on top of this inflammable and explosive mix lied his assertive wit. He is the sort to neatly finish up a discussion with a quod erat demonstrandum, and sign it with a humiliating ad hominem, although the latter is known to arrive before the former, as far as Diogenes is concerned. No surprise he is a lonely man.

"This is it?" Diogenes steps forward whilst looking around; he was searching for one of two things - a candid camera or something bigger than what Kaylee indirectly pointed out to be reason why he's been summoned. Despite his best attempts, he ends up with just that ambiguous graffiti - a black circle and the hurriedly sprayed date. "Twelve - twelve - oh - nine", he reads the date. Snort. "Even with abilities, people find their lives boring so much that they have to hurry the end of days. Can't they wait until twenty-twelve for the Big Boom?" His gaze is briskly tossed at Kaylee, anticipating an exposition that would up the intrigue.

Kaylee chuckles as she swings the backpack off her shoulder. "You remember the Humanis bombing in Central Park? I was there that day. And well… You know how they said the bomber was evolved? Nope." She waggles her brow. "I made people that saw it.. think he was… Anyhow.. Okay.." She unzips the pack and starts rummaging in it. "There was a little old man.. probably homeless. With a sign with that image painted on it. Swore he saw it and the end days with his own eyes. He said that darkness would swallow up the moon and we would all burn." She pulls out a brightly colored folder and flips it open. She pulls out a stack of computer printed pages and closes the folder again. "Now you'd think.. that was nothing.. But when I was sick in Seattle, I got bored and started to look things up. Well… " She offers the stack. "I found the same image on the web. This.." She points at the wall "..is only one of them. In fact, this the other biggest of them in Jersey." Grinning, she nods at the stack. "Some of those are international." She has each sheet labeled with where they were found. The numbers of course come up in the native language of the area. "I dunno.. probably still boring to you…"

A couple of steps, and Diogenes is facing Kaylee, showing surprising amounts of patience as he listens to the prelude of the whole story. It wouldn't be Diogenes if he didn't slip in a seemingly random remark here somewhere, and as such the moment there is a pause - during which Kaylee meaningfully waggles a brow - he suddenly arches his back and gasps audibly, bringing up his hand to let them crawl over his face like frightened spiders. "Oh my God, that cannot be! You lie!"

A fraction of a second later he stands as he did earlier, with a relatively serious expression having replaced his mocking one. There is still plenty of doubt written on his forehead; hell, were he naked, one would notice doubt inked all over his body. However, the closer Kaylee nears the end of the entire explanation, the more that doubt wanes and shrinks until becomes inverse, and he doubts not what she says, but his own… well, doubts. By the end of her speech, Diogenes slowly walks up to her to snatch the flamboyant folder and inspect its contents.

A smirk pulls at a corner of his lips. Russian date format. Even Russia has one of these. Russia? Poor country is having a continuous apocalyptic period as is. "Some of his pupils commented on how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God", he begins, temporarily lifting his eyes to Kaylee. "But Jesus answered, 'As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.'" He hands the folder back to the blonde. "Darkness would swallow up the moon. A solar eclipse? A lunar one?", he asks, looking back at the graffiti as if the answer was hidden in that painted darkness.

"Your an ass.. You know that?" Kaylee grins up at him, obviously unphased by his display. In fact, she probably finds it highly amusing. "Oh wait… Look who I am talking too.. of course you do." She teases, standing after he snatches the folder. The blonde does step closer and look at the contents over the top of it.. She reaches out and pulls a sheet out. She settles it on the top, it's an old painting of the bothers Cain and Abel. Cain looks like a gruff dark haired mountain man, Abel looks pale and curly blond. "Lunar eclipse visible in the US and other places. Now.. a neat little fact." She taps the sheet. "That is also the anniversary of the first murder. The day Cain killed Abel." She steps back and then around him to look at the graffiti on the wall, shrugging. "I mean.. It's probably all nothing. More then likely just odd ramblings, but it was fun researching it. A buddy of mine mentioned that he had a friend who'd probably get a kick out of it, so I gave him a copy as well."

"A recurring astronomical event that spawns darkness and anniversary of the first vile act commited by a non-existent religious figure? It's like God is actually trolling humanity. The hobos and the tabloids are having a field day, I bet." Having glanced at offered imagery of the aforementioned Cain and Abel - the murderer and the victim, respectively - Diogenes looks back at the graffiti yet again, cocking his head to the side like an art critic. "Dying from darkness consuming the world in complete silence would be pretty boring, don't you think?"

There is a glint of interest in his eyes. However, his earlier biblical quote meets its expressive continuation: "Teacher!, they asked, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place? And then Jesus replied: Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and, 'The time is near.' Do not follow them. When you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away." Thomas looks to Kaylee with a smug grin. "Luke 21:5-9", he explains.

"This— ", he nods towards the graffiti, " — is a sign that dark days are coming. The end of the world? No. And, in fact, had we lived in a mundane world free of superpowered humans, this would mean absolutely nothing. Some precog sees something grim, and there's an entire crowd of idiots crying about the End of Days." The coin is known to always have two sides of the coin, however. "End of the world? A poor anecdote. But something will happen. And you've piqued my interest."

"You forgot the fact that when the darkness swallows the moon we're all suppose to burn." Kaylee corrects him with a little shake of her finger and a grin. A grimace crosses her featured and she presses a hand to her stomach. "But.. yeah, I think your right something is going to happen." Lowering herself to the ground suddenly, she rubs at her stomach, eyes wandering the graffiti. She pulls out her iphone and lifts it to start taking pictures. "There is more of these in Jersey.. so I imagine it's the work of one guy. I found an online news article or two for local here that ran a story on the images." Lowering the phone she sighs softly, "If I could just get into their jumbled brains and see what they see when they get these visions…"

Diogenes is no charming prince, and as such he does not hurry to see whether Kaylee is alright. Instead, he uses his lore of the human anatomy to try and see if Kaylee's condition is serious enough to send her tumbling towards the ground. Unfortunately, it isn't. With a soft sigh, he brings himself closer to the telepath, listening to her rather enthusiastic display of interest, bogged down only by her unknown illness.

"Uh-huh." He leans in forward, bringing himself just low enough to compensate for the distinct lack of height between the two at the moment. "You have food poisoning." There is not sufficient medical data to prove him right, but there is enough background data for him to consider that it is that ailment in particular that plagues Kaylee. Was out of town, ate one too many burritos, and there you have it. "Drink lots of water and tea, throw up, all that jazz."

Another sigh. "You know where those precogs are? You want to go to them now?"

A brow lifts as he leans down she arches a brow. "Food poisoning… for 5 days?" She doesn't look convinced, but then she shrugs. "If you say so, doc." She continues to sit there for a moment, scrolling through the photos she just took. Picking one she makes it the wallpaper on her phone and puts it back in her pocket. "And no… I have no idea where these people are. If I had. I woulda said so," she comments nonchalantly. "I'm hoping that the police nab this tagger. But I'd like to get to that little old man. I've been watching the Park for him, but nothing. I dunno. Maybe I should hit the homeless shelters… old folks homes in the area."

It's amazing how quickly Diogenes's interest swings completely in the opposite direction. As much as he would have liked to humorously share his experience of scouting out homeless shelters and advise her strongly against doing such, his focus rests largely on the puzzle that is her illness. And unsolved puzzles irk him.

"Five days?", he echoes a fraction of her question. "Tell me all the symptoms, and are they progressive or are you feeling better?" Diogenes eyes the blonde both suspiciously and with interest. He crouches down at her side, weaving his digits together and letting his hands droop between his spread knees, waiting for an answer from the girl, having temporarily abandoned the matter of prophecies.

Tilting her head at him, Kaylee's eyes unfocus and turn thoughtful. She gives a shrug of her shoulders. "I started getting little twinges of nausea not long after we got home from LA. They have been getting worse.. Though yesterday, I had a little bit of time where I felt better. It was when my friend was over. Maybe just cause he was a distraction. I dunno." She actually feels a bit uncomfortable being scrutinized like that, so she climbs to her feet. "Occasionally, I get some bigger waves of nausea, but beyond that. I'm fine."

It is up to Diogenes to remind others of the fact that 'fine' is an ill-used adjective when one is nauseous for an extended period of time for no apparent reason. "No, you are not 'fine'", he barks, "You've been upchucking for five days. Of all the material I've read to nurture my knowledge of the human anatomy, none classified 'continuous and spontaneous vomiting' as 'fine'."

He tips his head to the side, once again examining Kaylee. "Could be a stomach ulcer, radiation sickness, or some sort of infection. You need to see a doctor", he murmurs in an irate tone. No, he was not annoyed with the fact Kaylee tried to ignore her symptoms; he was mostly used to ignorance. He was annoyed by the fact he couldn't solve it.

"Come on, let's go. Nothing else to see here." Not waiting for her to follow suite, Diogenes starts wandering off, digging his hands into his pockets again. "And to answer your earlier question— Yes, I've seen the Sandman."

"Yeah I know… People keeps saying it." Grabbing up her bag, Kaylee hurries to catch up. Pulling it on her shoulder she grins, "Really? You met her? Alright!" She says with a clap of her hand, grinning brightly. "So something did come of all those hours in the library." She looks satisfied by that answer… "You'll have to tell me about it on the ride back to New York. I'll even pay your fare for having to put up with me." She nudges him with an elbow as she says it.

Well, that was an easy enough bait for Kaylee to bite and follow.

Diogenes smirks as he glances to the ill blonde. She needed a distraction. And as much as Diogenes hates people, as eager as he is to plunge them into misery, he feels for those that are deep in it as is. "She's actually pretty pathetic. Cute, but pathetic", he notes, recalling his encounter with the infamous Sandman. "I don't think it's the meeting itself that I am going to remember, but what preceded it and what followed after." Slowly shaking his head, he snorts. "Well, at least the ride home won't be boring."

His eyes take in Kaylee yet again. An enthusiastic lil' blonde, curious enough to religiously study a superficially bland and shallow prophecy, and masochistic enough to enjoy the company of a complete and utter dick. A telepath who can know whatever whoever is thinking whenever, and is yet not as grim as him. And with that ability she seemingly unconditionally trusts Adam. Looks up to him. Puts a lot of stock in. But is that connection mutual? That… he was bent on finding out.


Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License