Participants:
| Scene Title | We Need a Giant Slingshot… |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Elle and Warren invade Cardinal's office, and bring with them change. For better or for worse, we'll see… |
| Date | September 28, 2010 |
He hasn't driven his car in a while, and he's certainly never driven it to Redbird, but this is a different day, and a new Warren. The red 1969 Cobra Jet Mach 1 comes rumbling up to park in front of the door, and he steps out, scanning the area with his silvery eyes before he blinks once, and they're blue again. Confident they haven't been followed, he walks around to Elle's side and opens the door for her, reaching down with his gloved robotic hand to help her out. "If I really am different, then I think people might notice my interactions being a bit off, but trust me, Elle." He smiles up at the building. "I have it all under control."
Taking Warren's hand, Elle steps out of the car; she's wearing a pair of slightly worn jeans, and a dark blue shirt with a magnet and little lightning bolts printed on it, and tennis shoes. Her hair is still damp from the earlier rain that she was just standing in, and it's fairly obvious that she isn't going to be zapping anyone any time soon. Her purse is all that she seems to have brought with her.
She's also blonde again.
"I'm not worried about you. Cardinal already knows that we're coming." She waves her cell phone, which, if she has it her way, will soon be destroyed. "Let me do the talking, first. I know what's happened, and my explanation should be…helpful."
She frowns, taking the lead in walking into the building. A small smile is offered to the receptionist, the blonde fluffing her hair. "Hey, Jo. I'm here to see Cardinal." She jerks a thumb toward Warren. "He's with me."
As the doors open, the receptionist looks up from the desk to speak a greeting… and loses just a little bit of colour at the sight of Warren Ray's entry into the building. "Miss Bishop," the blonde says faintly, "Mister Ray, ah, good afternoon… are you, ah, are you here to see Mister Cardinal?" Her hand drifts over to linger over the phone, blonde brows lifting a little in the hopes of getting the former man away from her desk as soon as possible. At the confirmation, she touches a button. "Ah, Mister Cardinal, Miss— "
"I was expecting them. Send them in."
Relieved, she clears her throat, "Third door on the right, please."
"Richard Cardinal." Warren says once he's entered the office, leaning against the wall with a relaxed demeanor. He doesn't look insane, but he doesn't look terribly distressed like Mortimer normally does either. "Elle, you can go ahead and explain."
Nodding all business-like to the receptionist, the casually-dressed woman slips into the office, making her way shortly to a chair and seating herself once the door is closed. She glances briefly to Warren, then back to Cardinal. "So, I think I'm…pretty well done with the Institute." She tilts her head to one side, watching Cardinal.
Then, she jerks a thumb toward Warren. "He is fixed. I made the decision for him, to get his mind fixed by the Institute." She tilts her head to one side. "Harper brought The Haitian in. Got rid of the multiple personalities, merged them into one and got the crazy out." She narrows her eyes toward Cardinal. "And they erased me from his memories." She goes quiet, after that initial onslaught of information.
Cardinal's picked up a nicer suit somewhere along the line, a sharp black suit that fits him well - there's even a fedora perched on the side of the desk as he leans back, a single brow arching slightly. "If anyone could do that," he admits, "It'd probably be Rene. So… what."
A spread of his hands, brows lifting, "You expected them to - help you? To be nice about things? You should've known better, Elle."
"I was just telling Elle in the car, the Institute's largest weakness is Harper. He's the greatest example of human error I've ever seen. He didn't even bother making me loyal to him." Warren's eyes flush with silver, something apparently bugging him, then he presses his ear against the wall, knocking a few times. But he continues talking despite this. "Fact of the day: Becoming sane doesn't lower the urge to kill Harper. Oh, and he came out to me when I woke up."
Elle smirks. "I had my hopes. But…you've been right all along, just like I always knew you were." She glances toward Warren, then back to Cardinal. "They're no better than the Company. They're worse." She tilts her head to the side, turning to peer quietly at Warren for a long moment. "And I'm done with them." She leans forward quietly, blue eyes focused on Cardinal's face. "I'd like to fully take you up on the offer that you and Elisabeth made to me."
"Warren." Cardinal brings one hand up to rub against the side of his face, "You're claiming to be sane while listening against a wall and rapping your knuckles on it. I'm finding it kind've hard to believe the first part." He leans back in his chair, then, "Can you get me Desmond Harper?"
"It's your structure. There's something strange about it, I can't put my finger on it." Warren shakes his head, and turns around to face the two again, straightening his tie. "And I'm not so much claiming as taking her word for it. I'm not too concerned with opinions on my sanity, they don't affect my plans at all. When this is all over, I get my father, maybe the girl," he nods to Elle. "Then I'll retire into a nice little— wait! That's it, I need to move out of the Octagon, the Institute is probably spying on me, so if I take this window of personality change to move out, they won't think anything suspicious of it." He dramatic finger is pointed at Cardinal. "And you can suggest an ideal location."
Elle blinks quietly, raising her brows. "What do you mean by that?" She tilts her head toward the man, raising her brows. "Do you mean kill him? Capture him? Or just call him?" She pulls out her phone, placing it on the desk, before leaning back in her own chair, straightening her shirt and her freshly bleached locks. She then glances toward Warren, brows raising slightly.
"What you aren't noticing is all the unshielded technology in most buildings," Cardinal replies in dry tones, "I prefer not to give Rebel free reign throughout my building, thank you very much… and what do I look like, a fucking real estate agent? Find your own goddamn apartment." A pause, "I suppose it depends. Are you still going to be operating in the Institute, or are you planning on setting fire to things and running away?"
"This building is creepy, it's like it has no soul, or a different soul from most buildings." Warren sounds curious at the idea, looking back at the man after admiring the wall again. "Do you have a list of what exactly you did? If I'm moving, I think I'd like to Rebel proof my place too. And if I could make a suggestion, Elle, I'd say you should leave the Institute cold turkey, and if Harper says anything, I'll handle it. But I need to, what's a good way to say it… build resources in a few places that should be able to help us."
Elle tilts her head toward Cardinal, her brows raising. For a moment, she simply ponders an answer to his question. However, afterwards, she offers a small, faint smile. "Probably the latter. Fuck them. I'm through with the Institute. I know you guys aren't going to provide me some fancy high heels and a kush apartment, and I know that you will likely tell me things that I won't want to hear…but at least you will treat me like a human." She rubs her chin. "I was just going to completely disappear off of their radar, if you would be willing to assist in that effort…"
Then, she glances toward Warren, briefly studying him. Then, a glance back to Cardinal. "But if it's a fire you want, I'm sure it can be arranged."
"To be entirely honest, you would've been far more useful inside the Institute, but if you can't deal with them anymore…" Cardinal's elbow rests on the seat's arm, his fingers splaying against the side of his face as he regards the pair, "…I don't have the resources for disappearing the two of you at this particular juncture, but I can send you to the people who do. They can probably set you up with places to stay, too."
"As for Harper… I think I'd like to ask him a few questions."
"I don't plan to disappear, I'm staying with the Institute, but I'm moving frmo the Octagon to avoid being monitored to such a degree. My plans depend on being in the Institute." Warren walks up behind Elle, placing his hands on her shoulders. "If you really were my girlfriend, I wouldn't have wanted you to risk your life by offensively pissing off an entire organization. There are degrees of betrayal, let's keep yours as low as possible."
He turns his gaze up to focus on Cardinal's eyes, sighing. "The Institute has my father, and if they once had Liette, then they must have everything she knows in some sort of hard copy somewhere. They have everything I need, and once I have it, we'll already be in a position to destroy them."
Elle smiles faintly, nodding toward Cardinal. "I certainly can't. Harper threated to blow my brains out, Cardinal. I don't feel safe there." The smile disappears, replaced by the faint hint of a frown. A glance is cast toward Warren. "They said that if he does well on his robot assignment, he'll be a full Institute Agent." She tilts her head. "All he has to do is pretend that I didn't tell him everything that happened, and he'll be in." She tilts her head toward Warren. "I'm certain that will be no trouble."
"They don't need with Liette knows," Cardinal observes with a faint snort of breath, "She doesn't know it because of some sort of power or ability, she knows it because she was raised in a lab where they //research/ that sort've shit. They still have her sister, too." There's a pause, "And if you ask for Liette again, I'll have to let her father shoot you." He nods, then, towards Elle, "Alright. I can send you to someone who'll set you up with a place to live… she'll probably ask a lot of fucking questions too, and no promises she'll agree to help you, mind."
"That explains a lot. So it's their information… her sister is what I'll get then." Warren releases Elle's shoulders, then walks back to the wall, choosing to stand and lean against it instead of sit. "You're hostile for a… what are you, again?"
The little blonde nods quietly to Cardinal, leaning back in her chair. "I hope she will help me. I need to get away from the Institute…" She shakes her head, lifting her hands to rub at her face. "Odessa Knutson will offer assistance, as well…I'm sure she'll be staying with the Institute, but she won't want me to leave her alone…" A brief glance is turned to Warren, then back to Cardinal. "I just can't go back there…"
"Warren," says Cardinal with a heavy sigh, "You're a mass murderer who's built entire machines with no purpose aside from killing me before, who's been known to torture even his closest and dearest out of some delusion of what trust is, and whose plans always seem to revolve around kidnapping innocent little girls. So if I seem hostile I'd like to think that I've got a pretty good reason to be." Dryly, "If you want anyone, kidnap Doctor Luis. Nobody'll care if you torture him for information."
"Okay," he closes his eyes, "So we see about making you disappear. Just play it normal for the time being, I'll make some calls and see what I can arrange, okay?"
"I don't have any interest in torturing or killing anyone. At the very least, a bullet through Harper. I don't remember killing anyone, I know I'm fully capable of fighting, I know how to kill, but I don't remember doing any of that." Warren looks down at his white gloved hands, opening and closing them as he tries to somehow remember, but just shakes his head helplessly. "For me, this is like waking up in some parallel reality, I'm still processing half of this."
Blue eyes turn toward Warren for a long moment, the woman tilting her head to one side. Then, she turns to Cardinal, frowning slightly. "I can vouch for him, Richard. I watched Rene play building blocks with his mind. I heard exactly what Harper said. Clean him out, get rid of all traces of insanity from him." She frowns. "Please give him a chance…"
Looking closer, Elle looks tired, and the expression is just now starting to show on her face. She hasn't slept much lately.
"I can't even go back. I don't even want to pretend. I just…want out. If I don't get out, I'm going to do something stupid like set fire to Harper's apartment and all of the Octagon." She frowns. "Which I'm sure wouldn't be a bad thing, but…I would probably get myself killed."
"What you heard doesn't necessarily mean what was done," Cardinal points out flatly, one hand lifting towards him, "And as far as I'm concerned, until I see otherwise, that's the same man I've known before. If he's any different? He'll have to earn any trust he wants to achieve, and make amends for his old crimes… as for you, you've been flip-flopping back and forth so fast I don't know where your real loyalties lie, Bishop. I doubt you do either. And if you're that out of control that you'd go wild and try to murder Harper if you wandered back to your place, then I don't see how you could be much use to me or anyone until you get a hold of yourself."
"I'll put you up in an apartment safehouse of mine for now," he allows reluctantly, "While I discuss what to do with the others."
Another glance is cast to Warren, before Elle turns a frown to Cardinal. "That's because for a while, I thought I felt something for Harper. I let myself be used, and I let him play his stupid head games on me." The blonde turns her eyes toward the desk. "For a while, he was…a replacement for Daddy. One that I realize now that I do not need. I got in too deep, Richard. I let him talk me into betraying my own father…I shouldn't have knocked the power out of that elevator."
Those blue eyes turn back up to Cardinal, a bit sadder than before. "I'll be blunt. My loyalties lie in staying alive. I went to the future…I was dead, there. Executed by lethal injection, prosecuted alongside my father. I can't let that happen to me. I'm not going to just go quietly into the night. I'm gonna go down fighting." She frowns. "I know that's probably not comforting, by any stretch…but you wanted to know. You and I share the same set of enemies in the Institute, Cardinal. I'm not a good person, but…I know good causes when I see them. I know good people when I seem them. And you and your organization are good."
A glance is cast to Warren again, then back to the man behind the desk. His final remark prompts relief to wash over the little blonde's face. "Thank you…thank you so much, Richard."
"I don't care if you trust me or not, Richard Cardinal, as long as you serve your purpose in my plan. Once the Institute is gone, I don't have any reason to ever see you again. I'll know what I'm supposed to do by asking my father by then." Warren offers Elle a hand, smiling warmly down at her. "I want to talk to you one more time before you go to that safehouse." He lifts one of her hands briefly, as if he's about to do something, then gently releases it. "I'm not a very religious person, I have zero intention of making amends for things I don't even remember doing."
"Unfortunately," Richard observes in dry tones to Warren's words, "Your father will probably just foist you off on me, because that's the sort of bastard he is… as for your plan, that's pretty much why I don't trust you. If you want a real dilemma to solve that works against the Institute, I can give you one…"
He leans forward, then, snatching up a piece of paper and scribbling down an address upon it. Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out a ring of keys, tugging one off. "The previous tenant's currently in the hospital or jail, I'm not entirely sure which — hell, she might even be in the apartment again. Just tell her you're her new roomie if she is."
"No one knows my entire plan, but that works against my argument." Warren simply shakes his head dismissively, then leans his hands on the edge of the desk, nodding for Cardinal to go ahead. "If you think there's something useful for me to do, I'm all ears."
Elle nods slowly, reaching out to take the key and the piece of paper. Then, she blinks a few times, peeking up at Richard with a thoughtful look, and nods slowly. "Thank you, Richard…I appreciate it." She peers down at the address…then, she blinks a few times. "Lola…you're pairing me up with Lola?" She knows that address. She looked at Lola's chart when she visited her. "She's in the hospital, last I checked." She frowns. "Need to visit her again some time."
Then, Warren is taking her hand, and Elle is blinking up at him. She's about to raise to her feet before he drops her hand, and she blinks a few times, looking mildly confused.
"I'm paying for the apartment, someone might as well be getting some use out of it," admits Cardinal, "If you already know her… good, that'll be less awkward, then." His gaze cuts to Warren, "The Company put a satellite into orbit… one that has the potential to track every Evolved on the planet. The Institute will eventually crack its encryption. Come up with a realistic plan to bring it down within a week and get back to me."
"I hate to burst your bubble, but crashing a satellite is a lot like crashing a small asteroid into the planet." Warren is quick to point out as he flashes a look of those silvery eyes at Elle again, then grabs her hand and actually helps her up this time. "But I'll work something realistic out."
Elle nods. "May have to go bust her out of the hospital, too." She shrugs quietly, pocketing the key and the paper with the address on it. Her face pales, then, as he makes a note of a satellite that can track all Evolved, the woman staring at Cardinal with wide eyes. "A satellite? In space?" Way to state the obvious, Elle. The woman frowns, then turns her eyes back up toward Warren, her brows raised. If anyone can do that, he could. Finally, the little blonde takes Warren's hand, raising to her feet.
After a moment, she turns a somewhat sheepish smile toward Cardinal. "Um…not to push in on your hospitality, Richard…but is there any way you could get me some clothes? All I have is what I'm wearing, and Lola is too tall for me to wear her clothes…and I think your clothes would swallow me whole." She smiles faintly. Still hasn't let go of Warren's hand.
"We can't directly access its systems since there's a virus aboard," Cardinal's hands spread a little to either side, "The current plan is even more insane than anything you'd come up with, so I'd like to have an alternative idea to suggest that doesn't involve quite so many deaths as Rebel's intending…"
At the blank look, he rolls his eyes behind the shades, "…the isotope tracking system, Elle. And— uh— fuck, I don't know what your size is."
Warren stares up at the ceiling, possibly visualizing as he blinks a few times. "Rocket science isn't rocket science to me. I'd need pictures of the satellite, or at least a similar one to be sure, but sending a big drill up there, aimed perfectly at the satellite, would heavily damage the structure beyond any reasonable repair. And even if it failed at that, it'd serve the secondary purpose of throwing the satellite off course."
Elle tilts her head toward Cardinal. "I know what you meant by that…I'm marked, so it's pretty important to stop that from happening." She frowns. The last thing she wants is for them to be able to find her when she's trying to disappear. As he asks her size, Elle rolls her eyes. "Get me a few jeans, size 4/5, and some shirts, size small. I really don't care about fashion, but nothing pink and frilly, or I might be inclined toward physical violence." She smiles faintly, doing her best to indicate that she's making a poor attempt at a joke.
She then glances toward Warren thoughtfully, her hand still clasped around his. She's quiet…then, after a long moment, she turns to Cardinal. "Why not send me up there?" This is asked quietly, almost inaudible. "I could short out the entire thing and fry everything."
"Sure," Cardinal replies dryly, "Do you have a really big slingshot? If we can get up there, we can destroy it. It's the getting up there part that's the problem…" He snatches up the pen, scribbling down some numbers, "Size 5 pants, small shirts. Got it."
"She's not going up there. And it's not complicated, I just have to build a rocket. I don't know anything about using a computer, so I'll need you to get me a list of the best rocket fuels, and their capabilities. I'll need the speed of the satellite in relation to the planet, and any specifications on the satellite's material and power source." Warren starts to head for the door, giving Cardinal a quick nod. "If you can give me all of that, I'll tell you exactly what I can do about it."
Elle nods quietly toward Cardinal, shrugging. He didn't say that getting up there was the hard part! "Guess I'm not going up there. But…I would like the chance to prove that I'm not planning on turning around and running away from you at a moment's notice." She tilts her head. "You're at least honest with me." If not a bit of a sarcastic bastard at times. "Thank you, Richard. I really do appreciate what you're doing for me."
She turns toward the door, moving to follow Warren thoughtfully.
"Google," Cardinal suggests dryly, "As for the satellite specifications… I have no idea. You could try and get the details out've Rebel, it's not like he's hard to get a hold of." He quirks a smile to Elle, "I never said I wasn't an asshole, Elle. Just that I'd be honest. I'll see you two around…"
Then his phone rings, and he turns it over, exhaling a chuckle. "Lola."
"Oh, I know you're an asshole, Cardinal. I'm not that delusional. Just…don't be like Harper." Elle pulls out her Institute cellphone, tossing it onto Cardinal's desk. "That's yours, now. It has the numbers of every person in the Institute that I know of. Use it wisely, and don't make calls from it or they'll hunt you down or something." They're probably going to be looking for her.
As he mentions who it is, Elle's brows raise, and she smiles slightly. "Tell her hello from her new room mate. I'll try to dust things off, or something." She shrugs, before turning toward Warren and squeezing his hand. "Let's go."