Participants:
| Scene Title | Office Hours |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Two allies speak and relate on the tangled mess they've found themselves in. |
| Date | September 15, 2019 |
Richard Ray's Office
“Oh no,” Richard sucks in a breath, “It can’t be. This is a disaster. We could all die. It’s escaped…”
The shape is a blur as it goes hurtling across the office, hitting the floor and bouncing twice before skidding to a halt. Right on its heels is another blur of red, lunging through the air in a pounce that lands upon the ‘escapee’.
“Thank god,” declares the CEO, leaning back against his desk and spreading his hands as Richelieu pins down and chews on the catnip-stuffed mouse that he’d thrown across the room for the cat, “We’ve been saved!”
It’s a slow paperwork day at the office.
It was a relatively peaceful day for the CEO.
Was.
Somewhere from within the walls comes a faint rumbling, the ceiling?
The vents.
They emit a wild, bloodred light. The sounds of crackling lightning echo out into Richard's office. First there is mist of the same hue of the light, trickling in from above with a sizzle and pop. It isn't long before more of the mass is in the room hovering there in the air, pieces of the ceiling begin to smoke and turn black. There's something familiar about it all.
As the scarlet mist begins to bleed from the vents, Richard’s head snaps up — and then he’s lunging back behind the desk, dropping down to one knee and using it as cover. A drawer rumbles as he pulls it out, a Banshee in hand with its cord leading down towards the power-pack belt in the drawer where it lays, leveling it at the crimson smoke hovering over the floor.
He hesitates before firing. “…Eve?”
The crackling nimbus of energy shutters and shakes before slamming down into the ground all the while molding itself. Slowly, into the shape of a woman. The scream that reverberates from the woman is in reverse but it catches pitch sharply just as the pale skin slaps itself over the red coiling mists, almost like a bag.
Maybe Katy Perry was right….
Eve's laughing, giggling to herself as she claps her chest which is thankfully not bare. She can bring her clothes along at least but they don't come out… all intact. As proven by the burn holds in the stomach of her dress and at the ends of the skirt. It's a deep gold number.
Her feet are bare. It's easier to go without shoes. "Hellloooo! You shoulda seen your face! You do have cameras in here, hmm?" Placing her hands on her hips and doing a little shimmy. Eve grins widely and runs a lightning filled hand through her dark hair, sparks collect and cascade down her back before fading away deep within somewhere.
"Well! Don't just stand there like you're in the middle of a war zone!" Wink wink. "How are ya? What's shakin?"
“Jesus Christ…” The weapon’s lowered, set back in the drawer which is pushed closed, “You almost got your ass scrambled.” One hand braces atop the desk, and Richard pushes himself up to his feet, raking a hand back through his hair.
“I haven’t heard any police reports involving you for awhile, was starting to wonder if you’d fucked off to Tahiti,” he says, dropping back into his chair.
Richelieu pads quietly up behind Eve, sniffing at her foot. There’s a red spark that snaps in front of his nose, startling him - scrambling away with an angry hiss, vanishing under the desk in short order to seek refuge by the CEO’s feet.
"Nahhh not there, but Japan!"
Eve stays standing and drifts over near the window, facing it but giving the cat an apologetic look. Sorry feline friend. "Wild place, more strict than we ever were. That was almost us," Were it not for the war. "It's been ages though, how are you? Happy to see the city hasn't exploded while I was gone." A snort and wink, both of the people in this room just seemed to be the cause for so many… explosions. "I figured it was time for a little chat, we like to exchange stories Card, yes?"
This is the least tense they have been in meeting even though it's only been the first five minutes, the vibe of the room spurs Eve on, giving her confidence that she was right with what she said to Adam, they could all work together.
"I saw an old friend," A spark leaps from her thumb to her knee, burning a hole through her dress, "Adam. We have a problem," Eve looks angry at the thought of that meeting in the cave. "He's being… stubborn. He won't work with us," That's not all.
“No shit,” is Richard’s drawled response, hands folding behind his head as he leans back, “If he was willing to work with us, he would’ve reached out a long time ago. He’s being so fucking stubborn he’s going to get himself killed— and possibly drag the entire world with him.”
“You all got Raquelle’s mother back to the States,” he says also, more quietly, “Thank you for that.”
"You think someone that old would see the value in our numbers! Madness!" Throwing her hands up and wheeling around to face the man fully, "His Sassisness has saved me from many a split end, it is the least I could do. It was mostly Hot- Luther anyway." A bright grin on her face, "Families should be together," That draws a frown out from the woman. "My family is with him, in Praxis," Surely Richard knows and her feelings on the matter are clear from the way she curls her fist and tilts her head to the side, eyes alight with violence.
"He wanted time, to do… whatever his solution is. I don't think he has it in him for all the times he's failed at this one thing in his lifetime." Waving her hand with a scoff, "I gave him until winter, he's already threatened them. Gilly, Chicken… Squeaks and Boomer might be okay." Because they are of blood. It might not be enough though. "I can't risk anyone making a move and getting them killed, not even my zany self. Heh." But there was the eventual choice of going west, of taking that chance. "I think they're all too important… powerful together. Synced."
But calling Adam's bluff seems foolish at least until they have more information. "There's a seer we've brought back. Use to be in the employ of the Immortal. We're consulting…questioning him, he communes with the past."
Eve's fingertips waft in and out of corporeal form.
“Squeaks was fine the last I talked to her. Her father was treating her well there, although he was having Bao-Wei do tests on her,” Richard admits, hands spreading slightly above his head before interlacing once more, “Likely because she was part of the Umbra project line. I don’t know Boomer.” He’s heard the Chicken nickname enough.
“Let me know if you get anything useful out of the seer. Did you find out anything else useful in Japan? Your team, everyone doing alright? I haven’t heard from anyone else yet.” A flicker of concern, there; for who, it’s not clear.
Emily's words of how Adam allows his children to be experimented on rings loudly in Eve's head, not that she didn't actively know this already but. It's still maddening, "They must be important, in some way. A fail safe… his daughters."
"Young Jac mentioned Umbra to me. Do we know anything else on the project- those leaks.. from the Praxis website. Someone doesn't like them." But more on that later. "Boomer's name is Chess, she's a dear friend to me. Young, magnificently powerful, war veteran and… another one of Adam's daughters. She and her sisters-" Eve stops and looks down, "They went with him, she wants to know her family. I think the chance to meet Joy, their mother is too much to past up."
She might cry if she hadn't done so, so much already. "Besides that everyone is okay, all in one piece. Tidy tidy. We should all have dinner."
As for the rest of what they learned in Japan.. "The seer is our only real boon from the trip." It doesn't make Eve feel good to say it, "But he was enough to warrant Adam coming for a visit. The cave we were at, it's where Adam and The Dragon first met. Where he was changed, I aim to get the true tale from Dr. Tae's lips. We will speak again on that after I've talked with him." Of that Eve promises to share.
"And what of you? Gained any fruits of knowledge while I was away?"
“I don’t blame her,” Richard admits in dry tones, “I’d love a chance to talk to Yaeko myself, but she’s unfortunately difficult to get to in the middle of Praxia. Adam doesn’t let people get too close to her, it seems.”
He gestures a bit with one hand, “Just bits and pieces— I suspect that Umbra was part of Project Tarterus, an attempt to immunize people to the Entity’s ability. That’s the working theory. They were using Adam’s parts for it, but it doesn’t surprise me that they may have decided to use his own children in order to reduce the chances of tissue rejection. I could be wrong, but that seems to be where the evidence is pointed.”
Dryly, “You did miss a few things. Reality tore open north of Providence. I got married. You know, little things.”
"I think she's his heart." In every sense but the literal one.
"The prison project. Why do you think all of these projects, the science faeries… focus on entrapping or immunizing the Mother and Father. Never to kill."
How do you kill an idea?
Alice's words echo through her mind and haunt or mock her in this moment. "I spoke to the Mothers. Mother Alice didn't know.. much- it was a strange conversation."
But then Richard is giving her the cliff notes version of what's been going on and she stops. "A Tear," Slowly leaning against the wall, her lightning stabilizing. She holds it within herself, pain or not. "As in one of Mateo's… or the Looking Glass..?"
"Marriage, oh boy I missed the party! I'll have to give you a present! Congratulations are in store!" Well maybe after they save the world they can have another party. Eve knows she missed the Bachelor party probably, but if she hosted a post- more on that thought later.
“It’s more… raw than either,” Richard grimaces, gesturing vaguely with his hand, “Closer to Mateo’s vortexes, but it isn’t actively pulling anything in — it is drawing on nearby electrical sources to sustain itself. We’re trying to figure out what caused it, there was an explosion— a big one. Something either tore out of this dimension or tore into it, but either way it’s not good.”
A faint smile, “And thanks— what did Alice have to say? I talked to Claudia recently. Had to give her the bad news that her and Adam used to be married before the Company redacted it.”
Eve tilts her head and twists a lock of hair around one pale finger digesting news of The Tear. "Perhaps all of the traveling , the Passage of the Dragon." Shaking her head confused as to what it could mean.
The only culprit she can think of otherwise is said, Dragon.
As for the Mothers, "Nothing helpful- that's a lie. Miss Aria and Mother Alice were nice. She said they didn't have all the answers for this. The redaction was… effective." Damn the previous generation. "Chess, Squeaks, Niki, Barb…" The list of daughters that Adam has grows more and more each day.
"I had a run in! With Grandpa Walter! We went back, my mother Valerie… she was there on the roof. She was Company, so was my fath-" Eve looks down at her feet and stares hard into the ground almost as if she wants to burn a hole in it which she can technically. "My momma had me before she joined. Before she met the man known as Eric Mas, my father." To say it aloud makes it real and Eve shivers.
“It could have been. I don’t know… and ah,” Richard’s head dips in a bit of a nod, “Walter’s… volunteered to try and dig up what we lost in the redaction. There are a lot of grains of sand in that particular beach, though.”
Sympathy, then, and he shakes his head, “Sorry. I know finding out something like that can be— bad, but. I mean, if Eric raised you? Then he’s your father. Period.”
"Lilah's daddio! He use to babysit me! That's what Grandpa Walter said. I'm going to see Lilah about it, and to see precious Wally." Eve beams in that moment at the thought of new extended family and Delilah and Eve were already connected through Teo/Ghost.
"It's good to have Grandpa Walter helping us… but…" She knows he's right. "I know. He is. I love him. I-I miss him Card." Eve is emotional but if she's ever really vulnerable around Richard, it's now. The use of the old nickname implying so. "But I still have to know, what it all means." Richard understands that.
"My momma met with Bob Bishop, the wild lightning rod's father. She received training from Peter's dad… she also met with this officer. Smith! Aaron Smith. To discuss getting me back, the government took me from her," Eve looks angry at that.
"These are the threads I have to go on and Lilah. No physical records, the papers have been ripped up, burned to ash, tossed to the wind." Rubbing the back of her head, "Usually my brain is abuzz with the world, how we can save it, what we must do but distractions. Emotions. Everything clouded. Not knowing my history. You understand this, yes?"
“Yeah…” Richard rakes a hand back through his hair, “Yeah, I do. And honestly? Maybe you should focus on yourself, on your life and your own self-care for a change, Eve.” A brow lifts a little, “You don’t have the future weighing down on you constantly anymore. Maybe you can take this chance to be a person for a change.”
He shakes his head, “It really is worth it. Take it from me.”
The River might not reflect like it use to but the knowledge of many visions yet to even pass are still here," Tapping her temple, as well as the many places her sketches and artwork has reached over the last decade.
"Someday. I can be a person, you can be just a CEO, father and husband, Gilly can be just an author, Chicken can not have to fight, but it isn't now." Of that Eve is certain though Richard's concern isn't not noted. They are relating right now. "My bloodline is entangled. Wrapped up all in this." Waving her hand.
"Our parents made a mistake years ago." All of theirs. In the opening of dimensional portals, in the failing of ridding the world of The Dragon. "It's up to us to right it. Our blood is stained." Until they finish.
Eve takes a moment to consider. Leaving the way she came might be a little… too destructive. She slowly walks towards the door, hair lifting from the energy she emits. "We will speak again Card." They were always right where the other needed them, that was until one of them went running off on a wild adventure as the two were both prone to do.
"Just a little longer."
“We’re all tangled in this web, Eve, you’re right there…”
Richard lifts one hand in a vague gesture, “We aren’t the people pulling the strings. Just remember that you can always decide not to move.”
Leaning back as she departs, he notes, “Sometimes that’s the only way out of zugzwang.”
"Fucking chess," Snorting to herself and opening the door before turning back, "Let's play checkers next time, DOMINOS!" Eve cackles wildly as the door shuts behind her with a click.