Participants:
| Scene Title | PR |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Magnes calls a midnight meeting. |
| Date | June 16, 2010 |
Gun Hill: Magnes' and Elaine's Apartment
Magnes chose late at night for a time to have Gabriel arrive. He knows Elaine won't be waking up any time soon, so at around 3 AM, he slips out of bed and throws on a white tanktop and a pair of blue jeans. He sits on the couch, watching some documentary on star evolution, simply waiting.
He doesn't have to wait too long — Gabriel, as a general rule, tends to be punctual. There's a brisk knock upon the door, more of a warning than a call for assistance as Gabriel merely steps through the door as easily as one might pass through a fog. Easier, even — there is no need for the particles that create the barrier to shift aside for him. His footsteps do sound solid upon the ground, however, the texture of his clothing all tangible and detailed and in proportion.
There's a glance towards the television, focusing back on Magnes as he comes to a halt. His hands, resting where he has his thumbs hooked into his pockets, turn out in a gesture meant to communicate, I'm here.
"I need you for a few things, but I'll save the big one for last. The first is more advice for me than anything." Magnes doesn't bother finding a place without electronics, the more occupied Rebel thinks he is, the better. "I'm trying to figure out how to shut my ability off, completely, like, control when it's on and off. My ability's always on in some way, in a way I never thought to try and control. But now I need a light switch, so I can learn to walk and move around without it turned on."
Gabriel's eyebrows tick up, but then again, it's 3 AM. He probably had been sleeping, even if the wicked aren't supposed to — moving on to business is probably less irritating than not. "Okay," he says, after a moment, a prolonged hesitation stretching out after. "I can't negate anything and negation drugs don't grow on trees." Advice, though, is what Magnes asked for, and so Gabriel wanders further into the room, the light from the TV painting his blackly clad figure with changing colour.
"I can't turn my original ability off, but I can deny it. Under pressure, people like us, we work better — or wilder, if we can't control what we're doing. It's something in the blood. Adrenaline, stress, it's an amplifier. Maybe you need to learn serenity, if it's not a matter of you subconsciously not wanting it gone."
"When I sleep, I float, but maybe serenity while conscious works differently?" Magnes asks offering up his random theory with a clueless shrug of his shoulders. "The reason I need to learn to shut it off is because without my ability I can barely walk. It's like someone cut my strings, gravity's so strange without my ability. So, if I can shut it off, I can learn to fight while negated."
Attention tracking to the ground between them as Magnes talks, a small tick of tension and irritation showing in Gabriel's doggish jaw, a curl of black falling to stick to his forehead before he brushes it away with a grind of his knuckles. "Maybe you need to turn it off before you sleep. Look, short of going into your head and finding the switch, I can't just offer you a perfect solution. But I have a power that lets me replicate the abilities of others for a finite period of time. When it's not 3 AM, I could copy yours, and I can figure it out.
"Through trial and error. What's the big thing?" For last seems to be a concept of chronology and surprise that Gabriel doesn't subscribe to, looking back up at Magnes and dark eyes narrowed.
"I'm not sure I'm comfortable with you having my ability, I mean, I'm happy you came to help, but what if you accidentally kept it permanently somehow?" Magnes asks, shaking his head, then moves on to the next subject. "Alright, big thing? The government wants you. They're about to launch an all out search for you because they want to give the city hope after everything it's gone through. But, I know a way to give the government what it wants, and to get them off your back possibly forever, if you're interested. It'll also benefit me." He stays casual through all this, not wanting to sound too grimdark in his presentation.
That narrow look becomes all the more so when study turns more into a glare, but it's broken when Gabriel instead casts it towards the nearest window. "There is nothing accidental about this power, or any of my powers — and if you use yours on me, ever, I'll copy it anyway automatically. It's a temporary thing, so I guess you're out of luck, huh? Forget it. You're all grown up, you can figure it out yourself."
He turns his back to Magnes like he might leave again, but instead, he paces across the room, hands tucked into the pockets of his back coat, shoulders hunching forward in a shrug. "I've pissed off a few officials lately, it's nothing I haven't dealt with before. How do we give the government what it wants?"
"They want to give the people hope, and I wanna do that too. So we need a symbol, something that represents the will of the American people, and that symbol should kill Sylar… or at least they should think it killed Sylar." Magnes pulls his legs up on the couch and looks to the bedroom for a moment, like something important's in there. "I've already thought most of this through, but I thought I'd get your input first."
"It won't work." He turns sidelong, glancing at Magnes up and down, and shrugs again. "Sorry. I've died before. Three times, by my count. On the bridge, in a plane, in Antarctica. The CIA believes I have a cloning ability and have people tenacious enough to not just roll over and die and let the public believe whatever as long as they think I'm still around. Unless your idea is really awesome." Gabriel raises an eyebrow, a shrug.
Let's hear it.
"Essentially, the idea is not that they want to kill you or that they even care about capturing you, the entire thing is a PR move, to basically let the public know that Nathan Petrelli is doing his job. If we get the PR, have some big public stunt where the public sees you die, even if the government finds out you're still alive, they will not ruin what they gained by telling anyone." Is at least Magnes' theory, and considering he works for the President's PR woman, who knows, that might be something to it. "I'm going to be in a mask, we're going to have an epic fight. A light manipulator will suck all the light from the area for a split few seconds at some point, then a speedster will take you as far as you need to go. If you don't already have one, you'll be provided with a shapeshifting ability, then you'll lay low. The loss of light and your sudden disappearance will be explained by a surge in my ability, I opened a black hole because you accidentally augmented me with one of your abilities."
In all fairness, Gabriel is listening, but his expression is thundery, if still sedate. By the end of it, the details of Magnes' plan are obviously flowing by him without much in the same of comprehension, already shaking his head by the time it's done. "The government want to kill me," he states, levelly. "They tried it once. They'll try it again, and the only people this is going to fool is the public, and I don't give a damn about making the President look good. You all got pardons, when you were recruited to save the world — I got tricked into it and a death warrant. No. Petrelli and his administration can go to hell.
"This isn't favour material, either. Helping me with Abigail, helping you with your power— you're right. This is big and stupid and dangerous and I don't trust the people you work for to not turn it into a trap. Was that everything?" He glances towards the door, back at Magnes, gaze placid.
"Yeah… I suppose so. But I should probably point out that I'm going to be lying to my boss a lot. She's basically given me the job of leading them to you, and I'm being forward with you about that. If you find a way to use this in some way, just come tell me. And just so you know? I wouldn't ask this for the President, I'm asking this for the people." Magnes stands, starting to head to his bedroom. "One more thing, since I have to get back into bed before she wakes up and wanders out here. Are you with Messiah?"
Gabriel nods once, short, when Magnes explains his position — it's a show that he believes him that much, and will consider it. In his own way. And otherwise letting the conversation end there in favour of Magnes not waking up the missus or anything like that, but he isn't automatically sweeping out of the room. When that last question comes up, Gabriel appears to weigh his options in response— which, he is aware, is practically answer enough.
"Yes," he states, simply, as neutral as a click on the OK button.
"We'll talk again later. Good night, Gabriel. Say hello to Eileen for me." Magnes gives him a lazy wave, clearly more tired than he was letting on, and trusting Gabriel to see himself out. When he opens the door, Gabriel can hear him say, "Elaine, go back to sleep. I just wanted something to drink."
The lack of footsteps, even the slight shift of air and the sound of ruffling fabric in midtransformation all missing from an exit, could be somewhat disconcerting. As soon as Magnes' focus is within the bedroom, Gabriel is simply gone, edited out of the room as silently and inexplicably as an unaccounted for ninja in a bad action film.