Participants:
| Scene Title | Troubling Designs |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Kaylee schedules a meeting with Warren to discuss DNA testing and Kaylee ends up learning more then she ever imagined, especially a plot that could endanger everyone. |
| Date | December 15, 2010 |
It really hasn't been Warren's week, but when is it ever? With Marjorie dead, Elle laying down the harsh reality of… well, complicated stuff, and now a brand new project, he's had a lot on his mind lately. On the phone, Kaylee is given directions to Shalegate, his factory, and when she arrives she sees that the place is full of cameras, on the outside and in, a few guards around, and she might even notice the occasional small robot on the ceiling.
She has to walk through a work area of people working on parts in the main manufacturing area, and a guard goes up the elevator with her, which also has a camera. Finally she's allowed to walk down the clean white newly renovated halls of the second floor without the guard, and a steel door with Warren's name on a plaque opens on its own.
What she sees is Warren in a white buttoned up shirt with a black tie on, apparently having removed the jacket of his suit and thrown it on top of his desk… which is pushed all the way to the side of the room. Things are a bit hectic, with lego K-Nex parts all over the floor, forming both large and small models of a machine so complex, there's no real way for her to even tell what the elaborate clockwork mechanism is. And the walls are covered in blueprints. The most she could really make out is the fact that a few of them mention something about a mind/machine interface.
He looks back at her, eyes silvery, appearing a bit exhausted from a complete lack of sleep. "Have a seat, somewhere…" He motions to a random chair pushed off against the wall with the desk.
She holds herself with a sort of poise, straight backed, chin is slightly lifted as she is escorted through the building. The turtle neck she wears is black with a pair of fairly new blue jeans. She wears a tan coat over it all against the cold of winter. Her golden locks are gathered up in a bun, making her look more formal them most of the times he's seen her. Even more odd is a glint of gold at her neck. A small thin and delicate gold cross.
"Thank you for speaking to me, Warren," Even Kaylee Thatcher's tone seems on the formal side as she steps into the room. There a glace to her escort and a soft smile of thanks, before moving towards the chairs. "What I have to discuss really concerns the both of us."
She's nervous about this meeting, but Kaylee deems it necessary. "An interesting operation you have here," she compliments giving him a friendly smile, as she moves to sit, feet tucking beneath the seat and crossed at the ankle. Rather lady like.
"It's one of a few factories I have now, I'm building a business so I'll have the resources for my plans, and bigger projects. I've filed over fifty patents so far, and counting." Warren's speaking to her as he works, apparently very fixed on what he's doing, spinning gears and snapping one thing to the other, even picking up one of those smaller parts and stuffing it into a larger one like some sort of mechanical Lego organ transplant. "What did you need to speak to me about?" he asks in a casual yet sort of distracted tone. He can't help his current demeanor, his ability makes him rather compulsive at times.
"Interesting." It sounds a touch distracted as well, her eyes on what he's doing, slightly fascinating. The question pulls her attention away from what he's doing to the man himself. "Your name is Warren Ray. Am I right?" A brow tips upward a little, but she doesn't wait for an answer.
"What if I told you my birth name is Kaylee Ray?" She watches him for a reaction, even as she continues. This next part is a little more difficult for her. "And I have reason to believe you may have been lied too about your parentage."
"You're my sister?" is Warren's first guess, knowing he has one or two somewhere, he's drawn out of his building, bliking his eyes a few times until they're naturally blue. He turns to face her, appearing utterly surprised, but then his brows furrow in confusion. "Lied to?"
There is a small grimace and Kaylee gives him an apologetic look. "Maybe. But first… I want to say that I am sorry. I have known about you for sometime, but never had the courage to come forward." Hands fold neatly and rest in her lap. "My father's ability is to predict the future. Not view it like a precog, but take facts and see all the possibilities."
Lips press together and she looks down at her lap at those folded hands, brows furrowed as she thinks of how to explain it. "He predicted that I would look at the memories of a certain women and left me a note." Looking back at Warren, Kaylee gives him a soft smile. "He told me what would happen when I would find my siblings. I have two and both have now shown up." There is a moment of hesitation and reluctance before she offers. "So you may very well be in the middle of a cruel lie."
"Harper… the predictions…" Warren frowns, looking over the blueprints, then to Kaylee. "That bastard. If he lied, it makes so much sense, this entire plan. Edward Ray is a precog, in a coma, and thinking he's my father, I want to talk to him." He motions his hands around to the blueprints. "The Institute has me designing a machine to communicate with people in comas, in exchange for being able to see him when it's finished. They're using me to get him."
He closes his eyes, placing a hand against his forehead. "If he is all a lie, then who am I? And how do I know if what I remember really is fake. God, I've never checked, I took Harper's word for it."
Unable to help herself Kaylee rises to her feet, eyes on blue prints when he points them out. "They have you…" She trails off, her expression one of awe. "Those are to talk to him?" she asks softly, a slightly pained look crossing her face, before she looks back to Warren.
"It makes sense why they would tell you that you are Ray's kid… Even I want to talk to my father," she admits with a small sad smile. "That machine is dangerous though, letting them have access to my father's ability… it would be disastrous."
A glance goes to the blueprints, "I'm glad I came to talk to you when I did."
Considering something, Kaylee finally sighs. "I don't want to rule out who you might be completely. But… I think the Institute will tell you anything they want to get you to built that." A hand gestures to the blue prints. "I want to get some DNA testing done. From someone other then the Institute." The ways she says that name doesn't hide her disgust for them.
"God, right now I have no idea who I am, it's like…" Warren walks over to his desk, hunching over so he can cross his arms and rest his forehead on them. "Elle's moved on, Marjorie's dead, and now I might not even be a person."
"We don't know for sure — yet." Kaylee points out watching him with a touch of worry. "That's part of why I'm here, to get some DNA for testing." Eyes drifting to his hair.
"But even if the test comes back positive, Warren." She turns to the plans and spreads her arms in front of them. The worry deepens as she studies the plans. "You can't build this for them, it will give them knowledge they don't need. It will hurt so many people."
Kaylee's head shakes slowly, arms wrapping around herself as if suddenly needing the comfort. "They have hurt my friends, killed many with the help of the government… I'm certain. They have my father in a coma and they used and hurt the man I love. This device… it's a bad idea, Warren."
"I understand that, but I signed a contract, so what should I do?" Warren slowly rubs his temples, eyes shifting back to their silvery state. He's clearly shaken, but he's trying to push it to the back of his mind. "Alright, think. It's a mind-machine interface… I have to speak with my technopath, but I may have an idea. Edward Ray understands probability, he's predicted a number of things up to this point that are still happening, probably including this discussion, right here in this room, and me building this machine."
He turns around to face her, this practically soulessly calculating metallic eyes peering into her's. "I'm not sure if it's possible yet, but what if I orchestrate this in a way that will lead to him sending a message to us wirelessly, and once the message is out, the machine burns itself out. Based on the assumption that he predicted I would predict that he predicted this, I think I figured out the next possible move."
The blonde only stares at Warren for a long time with a confused look. That kinda went over her head, but slowly a smile creeps back across Kaylee's lips. "He may have. I — am not sure."
Another glance goes to the blueprints, brows furrowing. "All I know is it needs to not happen, too many lives at risk. What if it continuously fails? Can you just make it act like it is going to work and then… burn out." As an after thought she adds, "Without hurting my father?"
Brows lift as Kaylee asks, "Your ability can't be right all the time, can it?"
"My ability isn't probability, it's like…" Warren turns to the large K-Nex structure he's built, motioning her attention to it. "You see this one little gear here?" he asks, pointing to that now. "I know how this gear works in relation to that other gear, and what that other gear does in relation to another, and so on, forever into infinity. And I knew these things before I even built it, in different combinations, breaking this machine up into other machines, thinking of all the things I can do while trying to focus on this one particular thing. What I'm trying to say is, I understand my machines as well as you understand how to use a straw. The only variable is the programming, but I'll have my technopath help me figure out how to handle that part, if this plan is possible."
It doesn't seem to help cool Kaylee's worry about what this device could do to her friends and more importantly her family. "Do what you can," she murmurs, brows tilted up with the distress she's feeling over the situation. "Whatever you can do… whether we are blood or not.
"Speaking of which," the telepath murmurs extracting a small baggie from her pocket. "Sit? I'll see if I can pluck a few good strands and we can get started seeing if the Institute is telling the truth or not." Even if she believes they are not, Kaylee still feels the crazy man deserves a chance.
Warren moves over to the desk, sitting on it and lowering his head. His feet dangle about an inch from the floor, it's a pretty tall desk. "I'll do what I can, I have to think that Edward Ray knows what he's doing, that he was prepared for this machine, that he knew I would be lied to if it is a lie. You're nice to me, Kaylee, I really hope you're my sister. You remind me of the sister from my fake memories… at least I think they're fake."
"Yes… well, I think they are horrible people. Doubly so for lying to you." Her tone sharp, not at him, but the Institute itself. Kaylee lays the bag next to him on the table and gently starts to work strands of hair, pulling strands with a quick jerk of her hand.
"Just so you know, Richard Cardinal gave me your number. He's just as curious if they lied to you. But he does ask, that if you have questions that you ask him." She pauses in her work, tilting her head to the side, to meet his eyes. "It really is rude to send spies," she states matter of factly.
Plucking a few more strands she checks they have what they need still attached, before tucking them into the bag. "And trust me. In this case, I can honestly say. Cardinal is the good guy. I trust him over the Institute, because he help liberate my friends from them."
"I never know who to trust, I don't have any friends, since usually it means dying pretty soon after deciding to be one. I don't know who's just trying to use me for my ability, who's trying to kill me…" Warren sighs, raising his fleshy hand to place it against his face. She'll notice that his other is silver, lacking the features of a normal hand, appearing more like a reflective latex. It's definitely not his old clockwork hand. "I'm always alone now, at least when it's not business. All I have to think about is my next move in the plan. I don't feel human, waking up one day and being this sane person I feel like I've always been, after a while it starts to feel like being a newborn with someon else's history, having to start all over again and try to shake what that other person did."
The baggie is tucked away for safe keeping, while Kaylee's blue eyes watch him with a sort of pity, expression sad. "Don't give up on people yet. I know what alone feels like. I'm — a — " she hesitates here.
"I'm a telepath. One with morals. I can hear your voice murmuring in the back of my mine, but it isn't proper to listen." Kaylee looks away from him, even moving to physically put distance between them. "All people hear is telepath and they don't give me a chance, but…"
She gives him a smile now, a gentle one. "Now I finally have friends. Not a lot. And a man I'm in love with, a good man that trusts me. Doesn't seem to mind what I am." Finger tap the side of her head, before falling away. "Friendship will come around when you least expect it. Love will follow in due time."
"I'm in love with Elle Bishop, but I started to finally move on when I met Marjorie. We were forming a friendship, and I felt like we had a lot of chemistry…" Warren closes his eyes, shaking his head. "I'm glad you're happy, I don't mind that you're a telepath. You might be able to help me make sure I don't end up crazy again."
"All I'm saying, Warren, is that your time will come for all that." Kaylee reaches out, and after a moment of hesitation pats his shoulder — if a bit awkwardly.
"But this." Kaylee sweeps a hand over the plans with a bit of a frown. "I think you should talk to Cardinal about it. He may have an idea for this and how to stall them. Ray always sends what needs to be done to him, so dad trusts him at least." Hands hover of the plans with interest. "This is truly a noble idea, honestly. It really is." A praising look is offered. "If it was going to be used for the right reasons, it would be an amazing discovery for the medical community."
The smile slides away and her head slowly shakes from one side to the other, her hands settling on her hips. "Not time for it, unfortuantly. At least not til the Institute can't abuse it."
"I'll figure something out, Kaylee. I promise I won't let anyone get hurt." Warren brushes his head, then stands up and walks over to the Legos again. "You're welcome to come here for anything if you need to. The Institute can't monitor my activities in here anymore, and I have ways of getting people in without them knowing. But I have to make a private call now, I know there's something I can do…"
"I'll leave you to it then," Kaylee murmurs eyes studying the details, still very worried by this device. "I need to get the DNA test started, so we can get some answers in that direction." Her mind follows the movements of his mental murmuring, not intruding, but staying aware of where he is. "I will let you know if I find anything out… like I said. Talk to Richard, too."
With a parting glance to the plans, Kaylee steps away and turns for the door offering Warren a gentle smile. "Thank you again for meeting with me and good luck with that plan." She then turns her attention to getting out of the building, meeting the escort outside the door.