Participants:
| Scene Title | Relative Revelations |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Now that his people are clear of Braintree, Cardinal stops by to tell Magnes about a certain member of its management. |
| Date | October 13, 2010 |
Siann Hall: Elaine and Magnes' Apartment
It's early in the morning, and Magnes has started the day with meditation, trying to clear his mind with his legs crossed on the couch. He's wearing a Green Lantern shirt and a pair of blue jeans, eyes closed and hands in his lap. The apartment is still "Rebel proof", with all communication devices stuffed into one room and out of earshot. He's also got a bit of a chant going on, quoting things he's read, "A numerical value can be obtained by infinite series, or numerical methods such as iteration. Next, knowing E, calculate the true anomaly v…"
There comes a knock upon the door. It seems that, for once, Cardinal's chosen not to simply slither in and interrupt the younger man - standing on the other side of the door, dressed in a sharp black suit, his knuckles rapping against the wood of the apartment's door. His shades firmly set upon his face, a fedora perched atop his head.
Magnes opens his eyes at the unfamiliar knock, then approaches the door carefully, stepped off to the side just in case there's a shotgun ready to burst through. Gravity extends out through the door, and when he doesn't quite feel anything that seems like a gun, he opens the door and peeks from behind it. "This is weird. You knocked."
"You usually get pissed off when I just pop in," Cardinal observes in rather wry tones, bringing one hand up to lift the fedora off his head - gesturing with it towards the door, "I figured that I'd try the door for a change. Mind if I come in?"
"I'm an extremely sheltered geek living with a girl for the first time, I'm surprised you'd even take a chance just popping in." Magnes shakes his head and motions Cardinal in, closing and locking the door when the man enters. "Cellphone batteries out, if you have one. So, what's up?"
"There was that, too…" A faint chuckle tumbles past Cardinal's lips as he walks into the apartment, his head shaking a little as he reaches into a pocket to pull out his cell phone; waving it briefly before the piece of technology blurs into shadow, spilling down his fingers and sleeve. "Works just as well. Cell signals doesn't come in negative frequencies."
He walks in slowly, looking around the place before turning to regard Magnes seriously, "Do you have any relatives named Peter?"
"My father's name is Peter Varlane. I haven't seen him since the whole Midtown thing, but Kershner says my parents live in Cape Cod and dropped me as a dependent. After this time travel business is over, we're all going to drive down there and see what's going on." Magnes explains as he flops back on to the couch, reaching forward to take the computer out of sleep mode, the large monitor where a television should be. It doesn't seem to be connected to the internet, at least. "Why?"
Public> Eels Comin' Up Inside Me Amadeus says, "http://uumux.com/images/Dracula04.jpg Dracula is a pimp."
"That's what I was afraid of…" Cardinal's hand drops down to one side, the fedora resting against his hip as he regards Magnes for a moment, his lips pursed in a line, "…my people were carrying out an infiltration and retrieval mission at an Institute facility up in Massachusets, near Braintree…" He brings his other gloved hand up, rubbing to the back of his neck as he says quietly, "Peter Varlane's with management there."
"Wait, what? My father is managing an Institute facility? Oh god, is this why they raised me the way they did? I mean, I can quote the dictionary, I didn't know other kids until I was a teenager, for my entire life the focus of my parents has been to groom me into a scientist. And the second I start rebelling, they abandon me the first chance they get!" Magnes stands up, starting to pace around the apartment, freaking out just a bit. "I could have been up there creating monsters…"
"I don't know…" Cardinal spreads his hands to either side, "…to be fair, Magnes, a lot of the people working for the Institute think that they're doing the right thing. It's not like they're— uh— Sith or anything. He could just be misguided, not realize what they're really doing." A pause, "They could've cut ties to protect you, too."
"My father is the kind of person who will shoot someone's tires out for cutting him off in traffic." Magnes' entire rebuttal seems to be that, dropping back down on to the couch as he tries to process things. "I guess that's possible, I don't know, I have no idea what to think. It's like learning that my father works for Umbrella Corporation."
"I'm sorry," Cardinal grimaces, "I just… thought you should know, as soon as my people were clear of the facility. He's your father, I wasn't going to keep that one a secret from you."
"No, it's alright, I guess it just makes me look back on my upbringing and I suddenly feel like a science experiment." Magnes looks up to Cardinal with a contemplative stare but still mostly distraught. "I don't remember either of my parents having abilities, just in case you wanted to know."
"They could just be… you know," says Cardinal in hopefully suggestive tones, "What he said they were - management, or scientists, or… whatever. Not everyone who works for the Institute're Evolved." He pauses, then, "What about a Felicia Varlane, any relation?"
"I've been trying to figure that out, she's the FRONTLINE woman. I have no idea if we're related or not, but we're both gravity manipulators, that's too strange of a coincidence to ignore." Magnes sits back and crosses his arms, staring at the wallpaper of him and Elaine standing on the Statue of Liberty's head on his computer. "I never really met cousins or aunts and uncles much. My parents usually left me with tutor nannies or whatever, when they went to family gatherings."
"It could be a coincidence, could not… anyway." A pause, and Cardinal turns towards the door, "I just wanted to let you know, about your father. If you want the address, just let me know, I'll send it to you."
"I have his home address, I guess I'll be getting to the bottom of it soon." Magnes stretches out on the couch, groaning briefly. "Thanks for telling me. And um, could you shadow through the door so I don't have to get up and lock it again?"
At that, Cardinal chuckles under his breath. "Lazy bastard," he mutters, though there's no real heat to it, bringing the hat back up onto his head and moving towards the door — melting down into living shadow and sliding beneath the door's edge, leaving Magnes alone with his thoughts.