Participants:
| Scene Title | The Love Child of Sisyphus And Atlas |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Cardinal invites Abigail to crash at the Library proper, if she needs it in the future and raises questions out kill contracts while she inquires about money. |
| Date | December 2, 2010 |
Luther is gone, off to do what Luther does day to day when not haunting Redbird and their garbage bin in the staff room. A restless night for the former EMT, Abigail was lingering in her sleeping bag, contemplating where she can slip on by to take a shower. She's sure she's rank - she's not really - and she needs to still go have breakfast. Hit up Hana then figure out where next to stay. Wash some clothes. Redbird is a possibility, that's for sure.
It's a solemn figure on Cardinal's security camera's that he's set up, crawling out of her sleeping bag, sitting on the end of it while she starts to pull on boots, silent in her own thoughts, a glance to where Luther had been, the pink box that had held the stale donuts even as her stomach gives a bit of a rumble. Food. Yes, food is something she's going to need to go get.
"Now I didn't expect to see you here, Abigail," Cardinal's voice rises from the doorway as she glances over to the donut box; he's leaning in it, although he wasn't there a few moments ago, arms folding over his chest and a tired look to his smile, "What brings you out to this ol' place out here in the ruins?"
"Oh holy lord on high you did it again" There's no wooden spoon to throw at him, though her fingers dig into the material of the sleeping bag, staring at Cardinal in the flesh as opposed to the whisper and shadow that he usually is in her ear. Her little inflatable pillow though, goes flying, chucked at him for the skip of her heart.
"What brings you here Richard? Liz said you were out and about walkabout"
As that inflatable pillow bounces off Cardinal's chest, he exhales a chuckle, bending down to pick it up and toss it lightly back. "…well, I still need to sleep somewhere, y'know," he points out wryly, "Why the hell're you up here instead of down near the generators where it's warm?"
"I'm not so concerned about getting cold Richard" She points out, brown brows pulled down, eye's blue since she doesn't have the contacts in. She catches the pillow, pulling out the stopper to deflate it as she sets about to her now morning ritual. "I didn't know if anything was still around, much less somewhere lower. It's not like I spent much time here Richard and I was with Luther all night" There's a hesitant glance over towards him. "Don't happen to have a shower working down there? Or, you know, a decent meal besides stale donuts and ravioli?"
"Of course we have a working shower. It's a little jury-rigged, but we've got one," says Cardinal with a shake of his head, gesturing with one hand behind him, "And we've got stores of food. I mean. Mostly dehydrated shit and MREs and stuff, but it'll fill you up. Why aren't you at home?"
He's serious. There's a jury rigged shower. And MRE's, she can deal with that. "Robert told me to run. They hadn't come to the condo yet. But…" But Cardinal new about the secret execution of the Ferry council. "He sent me to you, told me to hole up in redbird and then run. Run more when I thought to stop. I've been on the island with the others who survived but had to come off of it. The council needs to take stock of their flu vaccines and some other stuff"
It's time to start rolling up the sleeping bag. That takes skill and the use of ones knee's. "Doing some things before I take off to another country and… wait for Robert. I'm supposed to let you know where I'm going and where I am and when it's safe, he's going to come find out where I am"
"Robert sent you to me? There's a laugh…" Cardinal's head swings from side to side in a slow shake, his lips twisting in a bit of a smirk, "…maybe he doesn't know about Logan and Zarek's plans, then, although I'm not willing to put any money down on that one." As she rolls up the bag, he grunts slightly, "Another country? You have one in particular in mind?"
"He sent me to you because I trust you and thereby he trusts you" Abigail's not going to mention the look on Roberts face when he's told her to go to Redbird. What is this think about Logan and Zarek's plans?
"Canada. There's a Ferry network up there, there's no registration and Magnes swears he knows someone named Millbrook who can get me across the border without needing to stop for the border patrol" She's tying it closed, straddling the roll to slip it into it's holder then strap it to the hiking pack.
"It's a lot easier to get into canada than Italy, or you know, another country with an ocean between me and there. My teleporter's not answering his phone and I don't blame him"
"He trusts me? Then maybe he'll call off the hit on me…" Cardinal's tone is dry as ash, "…not that it did them any good. I'm not that easy to kill." He nods slightly, noting, "Just keep in mind that the Institute's happily raided into Canada before, so it's not exactly safe. I've got some friends down in Argentina if you decide you really need to disappear."
Say that again? You know, that sentence that has Abigail looking squarely at Richard as if he just told her that jesus has very much risen again and is wanting to have some dinner with the urban saint abigail.
Richard's brows raise a little bit at the look. "Oh, you didn't know? Logan and Zarek sent a hit team after me. They tossed some cash at the Ghost Shadows to take me out," he says in wry tones, "I don't know if Robert knew. S'why I asked you last time how close he was with Kain."
"He wouldn't send me to you if he was planning on killing you"
Finality in her tone, even as she pulls up to a stand, sinking her hands into her pockets. "So it's not Robert Richard. You can take small comfort in that." If he can take comfort in that. "Do you have proof that he's the one that's done this? Have they said that it's Robert who's done this Richard?"
"Like I said, I don't know if Robert knows about it… Kain and Logan are involved, I know," says Richard with a shake of his head, "I don't know who else. Nicole might be, I know she's not exactly fond of me…" A smirk twitches to his lips, "I kind've screwed up that whole plan. Should never've brought Kain into the loop."
"I don't know who this Nicole is. I don't generally go running around Roberts office since I married him. I've met him for lunch a few times but that's about it" Well, this is just a bit awkward. Ever since she had to take off, it's been lots of awkward. "You want to show me… the basement?" She presumes the basement. "So in case I need to stay here again before I go that I know where to be?"
"There's a lot more insulation in the underground levels," admits Richard as he turns to lead the way down the hall, "If I dragged the space heaters up here, they'd just be heating cold air constantly, it'd be self-defeating. Last winter we figured out it'd just be better to move everything down there." He shakes his head a little bit, "Everything's all fucked. I'm sorry, Abigail."
"Last I checked Richard, your name wasn't Atlas" She follows him, dragging her pack up to one shoulder so that she won't have to come back for it.
"Sisyphus'd be closer," Cardinal replies with a smirk back over his shoulder, sweeping his hands to either side, "Guess it's time to start pushing that boulder back up the hill, though. God knows that he— well, there's at least one Institute project I've got to stop. Because it's seriously fucking insane."
"I don't know who the sisaphis guy is. I only know Atlas, the weight of the world on his shoulders" And she doesn't have google to check it out, not with the phone that she currently has at least. "This that project that you have Luther running around on, soaking up radiation from the ground?" She inquires. "We talked last night."
"Sisyphus. He's one of the damned in Hades, in mythology. His punishment is that he has to keep pushing a boulder up a hill. Of course, as soon as he reaches the top, it rolls back down the other side…" Cardinal shakes his head a little, "No. That's just— because it needs to be done. No, the Institute is doing something stupid. I wish I could find Nakamura, he'd have a fucking conniption."
"Ahh, so you're the love child produced from Atlas and sisyphus getting it on" There's a glimmer of a smile from Abby. 'I think there's a bunch people who want to have conniption fits with Mr. Nakamura as it is too" Down the steps they go, her hand going to his shoulder so that she doesn't loose her balance.
"Can I ask you a big favor that doesn't involve saving the world or putting yourself in bodily danger and even more easier well.. sorta easier… to do? I was going to ask you at Redbird but Liz had said you were gone and she was trying to keep me from burning down your building"
"You can always ask, Abigail," Cardinal says with a snort, turning a corner and walking along over towards a solid metal door that stands in the middle of the hall rather… startlingly, stepping over to it and fading away into a flat shadow across its surface. Inky nothing skitters across the surface, curling through the crack at its edge. A thump, and then the door swings open.
"Oh see now Richard how am I going to unlock that without a key! That's unfair!" But smart. And generally she's pretty sure that it's how he's always hid himself away. She takes a step in, cautious and careful, looking around to try and get a lay of the land for herself in the future.
"I'm going to need money. For wherever it is that I settle. Robert can't just grab everything from my account, they'd toss him into jail. My accounts are likely frozen anyways. I have about fifteen hundred on me. Had to buy a mountain bike so that I wouldn't have to walk everywhere"
"Felix already gave me everything that he could without chancing people looking suspicious at him. It'll be paid back, when.. everything's over and done with, when I can come home. Just that wherever I settle, it's not like I'm going to be able to get a job right away, and I'm frugal and such just…"
"There's one've the doors that actually uses keys," admits Cardinal with a shake of his head, "Although I keep it barred unless I'm not here." After all, if nobody can get in, then there's less to worry about. Of course, one of the doors has a hole burnt in it now. Hmf. "Money? No problem. I've still got some stashed away from that robbery down in Chinatown…"
She doesn't look so keen on borrowing that money. "It's okay, don't worry" A wave away of her hand to the man and sets her pack down by the side of the door, slipping her hands down into the pocket of her jeans, craning her head here and there. "Keep it stashed away, I'm not that hard up for it"
"Goody two-shoes." A look's slanted back, Cardinal's lips twitching into a smirk, "I stole it from thieves. Think of it as putting it to good use… otherwise they were just going to use it to buy drugs and guns and shit. You're not in a position to quibble."
"I like to think Richard, that I'm in a position to quibble over something small as where the money came from" But then, she did live in a multi-million dollar condo bought by the salary of her husband the Lindergoon. She won't take it, directly. Her pride prevents her from such but… "But you know, if money happens to make it's way into my pack, I guess I'll never know where it came from and how it came to be"
At that, Cardinal exhales a snort. "C'mon downstairs," he says, shaking his head at the woman's words, heading for one of the stairwells, "I'll show you where the shower's rigged up. It's not exactly hot water, I'll warn you."
"You think there's hot water out at the Island for folks to shower Richard? Cold shower is better than no shower." Back up and out, she's following again. "And no judging. Mister raised by penguins. At least you can still see Liz, I have to contend with sitting in the shadows and being a creepy Cullen and watching Robert come home at night"
"Welcome to the New World Order," says Cardinal with a slow shake of his head, "And Humanis is on the rise too, I hear. Naturally." He snorts, "Plus ca change, as they say."
"Plus ca change?" She stops him, a hand to his shoulder again with a questioning look on her face. "What does that mean?" The news of Humanis First rearing it's head again brings a roll of eyes. "No surprise, given all that's been happening. They'll try to take advantage of everything"
"It's french, the start've a saying… I don't remember the rest, it translates as 'The more things change, the more they stay the same'," says Cardinal with a shake of his head, footfalls echoing in the stairwell as he heads down, pausing at an intersection to gesture, "Shower's down there. Food's straight ahead."
.
"Ahh, I'll have to remember that for when Francois surfaces from wherever Hiro sent him to fix things" Another french sentence to store away. "I am going to part ways from you here, go stuff my face with whatever I can find and then… take a shower and feel human for a little bit before I go find Hana"
"Give 'er my best," says Cardinal with a faint smile over, "I've got some shit I need to do too."