Archive Mutants & Masterminds: Future Imperfect - Chapter 4: Silent Lucidity

[SalmonMax]

Juno nods approvingly at Adrian, and adds, "I don't care who you are, lady. I really don't. You could BE President. All I want to know is what happened to us, and to our people."

[Joani]

Prof. Storm sighed and nodded. "Agreed - Sister - friends. They'll tell you what happened. We continue our conversation later. Deal?"

The Secretary of State pulled out a cellphone out of her blazer and dialed a number. After a short moment the door opened again, the five security guards entered followed by Rebecca and Six. Both teenagers looked like they haven't slept for days. Rebecca dashed to her brother as soon as she saw him and hugged him.

"I thought I'd never see you again.", she cried. Adrian hugged her back ignoring that she looked like she was before her powers manifested. He didn't care for now - he was alive and she too, that's what counted.

Six had the urge to do the same and hug Juno but he restrained himself. He waved at her coming closer cocking his head sideways and giving her a lopsided grin. "You ok, eh?", he asked his voice breaking in a way he didn't wanted. And he tried so hard to be the tough guy.

"We will give you some privacy now - if you are done just push one of the buttons and call a nurse. We're downstairs. Take your time.", Prof. Storm said and left with the security team.

[Stargaizer]

Kevin spoke up again before Ms. Storm left, using the same even tone he had with the doctor. "Ms. Storm, would it be possible to get all of us the clothes we came in in, or some equivalent.

Also, on a more personal note, I would like to see an updated casualty/MIA list for Las Vegas as well as Capt. Hicks. You may have heard of me before, I am Major-General, Retired, Kevin Bridges, also probably the only doctor on the planet who can restore the Capt.'s sight. I would also like access to a secure phone that can call internationally.

Thank you."

Kevin hoped beyond hope that Miriam was in that section of ship that they'd saved, or had turned up somewhere else, and he also hoped that Six would have good news, saying that everybody that they'd left at the WalMart was safe... for Ms. Storm's and the hospital's sake.

[Joani]

Prof. Storm briefly nodded at Kevin before she left through the door. "I will see what I can do for you but it'll take some time to cover all your requests, Major-General. Why don't you touch base with your folks right now and we'll get to the rest afterwards. I'm sure I've got some of your requests covered by then."

[Adrian Moss]

Adrian was momentarily lost in his touchers embrace. He had entertained the notion that she might have been killed when he was away from her, in the fighting. Maybe the machines had gotten to her. Maybe they had drug her aboard one of their ships before it crashed and was destroyed. Only has he held her and looked around, did he see Six and give that man - boy - a smile.

Mostly he was glad to have his sister back. Having her untransformed was something he could worry about once they were alone from the other ... humans.

[Rorx]

Tom smiled to see the reunion of the Kid with his sister, got slowly to his feet and staggered over to where Morgan still lay wired up to various instruments. He looked around for the doctor, and addressed the nearest member of the medical staff, "What's the story with Morgan here? Why hasn't he come out of whatever it was?"

[Tim Wiley]

A family reunion. How touching. Tim thought with snarky sarcasm. He didn't fault the others for their reactions. If he was not so disdainful of his own family, he might have reacted the same way. But with his mom's issues and constant betrayals, he was jaded when it came to families and reunions. There was one person however, who he did care about, and he thought he might inquire as to her status. The last time he had seen her, she was caught in an explosive outblasting of a wall.

"I have a request to make about a person. I would like to know if a Rosa Villalobos is still located in Las Vegas or if she is among those MIA?"

[SalmonMax]

Juno grinned broadly, despite her feeling punchy from Virus, and raised her hand to execute a ridiculously complex series of handshakes/fist bumps with Six. They both executed the gesture with casual expertise that suggested lots of practice.

"Takes more than crashing into a concrete wall at eighty per hour and having a gasoline truck explode on top of me to put me down," she quipped...then winced and rubbed her sore muscles.

"Maybe not MUCH more though. How're the rest of the crew?"

[Joani]

Originally Posted By: Rorx

He looked around for the doctor, and addressed the nearest member of the medical staff, "What's the story with Morgan here? Why hasn't he come out of whatever it was?"

There was only one nurse left in the room, everyone else had left. She looked at Sly's comatoes body and back to Tom. "He got transfered here in that state. Initially you all showed the same kind of brainwaves on the EEG. With time that changed though, except for him. The Doctors honestly don't know what is going on with him."

Looking at Tim the nurse nodded, "There is an offical and an unofficial list of KIA and MIA civilians. I think the Secretary will get both for you so you can check on your relatives if they're still alive or missing. I can't do much more for you."

Six perked up as he heard the nurse talking about Sly. He gave Juno a more than friendly hug and she could tell that he had more feelings for her than he wanted to admit. "I... I can't explain what's wrong with him.", he interjected, still standing close to Juno. "But I can tell you what happened at the Walmart. Things were looking A-OK for a while and Sly told us that you guys were making progress and stuff, kicking alien butt and stuff. Suddenly the building got hit by something and half the roof came down burying a section under rubble and debris. The kids started to panick and Sly told me to evacuate. What happened next was simply amazing.", he looked at Rebecca before he continued, "Another blast or whatever hit the Walmart and then the whole fucking ceiling came down. I swear to god we'd all be dead if it wasn't for Becca over there. She saved us... but it was scary, too. She kinda started to glow and created a bubble around us to protect. Everything that hit that bubble evaporated - poof, just like that. When everything was over there was only us left under the bubble, rest of the building was gone. Then came another of those laserbeams that hit the bubble directly, but Becca managed to fend it off. Short after that the alien ship crashed and Becca collapsed unconsciously to the floor. I think that's around the same time Sly lost it.", Six looked over to Sly's body.

He shrugged and sighed. "Honestly, I have no clue how she did that, but your sister saved our lives. The military picked us up short after, almost celebrating. They said that communications blockade was over and they started to coordinate their efforts to liberate Vegas from these fucktards. We were all brought to Nellis Airforce base and after a day they put us in a plane and sent us to Washington D.C. I mean all of us. You guys looked pretty messed up, though. They didn't let us close to you, saying they didn't know how bad your conditions were and that you all suffered from the Virus and all. I thought you'd be dead once we got to the hospital. Like that last guy that died on TV around Christmas... but you're not dead.", he smiled somewhat embarrassed by his chaotic report but he was too excited that his best friend was still alive.

"Never ever do that again, Juno. Got that?", he said to her with a caring voice. He was close to tears but swallowed it down.

[Travis Kincaid]

Travis watched the reunions with a slightly bitter eye. The Secretary of State had all but dismissed him, and because of that he had no family. His entire world was in this room, the only two people he cared about; one was sitting on his gurney and the other was standing next to him. He felt surprise as he realized this, surprise at how much he wanted to repeat their kiss from before, and a double helping at the realization that it wasn't simply a matter of sex. I really do care Ronnie, I just can't show it. I can't show it cause ... I dunno maybe cause I've already lost one woman I cared about. He didn't know why, and he didn't care what her reaction would be; he reached out and took her hand in his, he felt better, like he was drawing strength from her presence.

[Ira Sagebrush]

Sam had been keeping her mouth shut ever since she woke up, simply because she was positive that if she did open it, she was going to hurl all over the bed. She was content to let everyone else talk and just listen, though when the Drama Queen had gone all ape-shit she had dove under her covers, desperately seeking cover under what she wished were kevlar sheets.

When the Secretary General had walked in, she had tried to slink down and all but disappear into her bed, positive that the US government would be thrilled to have a mutant that had been networked with their enemy. Vanishing was all but impossible for her though, her skin luminescing like some tricked out motherboard through the sheets and gown.

That didn't seem to matter though, as the spooks left, leaving the ragtag bunch to try and soak up the latest news.

Coma my ass, they had us under for testing, using us for lab rats I bet.

[z-May Allman]

Ronnie nearly jerked away when someone grabbed her hand; it was an instinctive reaction from having her hand restricted. But she checked before she pulled, and was surprised and pleased to find it was Travis. She smiled at him; he was obviously distraught if he was visibly reaching out to her. She curled her fingers around his, and tried to be a good friend. She also tried not to remember that she'd made a promise to him that she hadn't kept.

Her concerns were different; she was known to these people as Ronnie Collins, and they'd just offered her a job. She couldn't see her government telling her to turn it down, but Nana had funny ideas about her working for the US government while being part of the BND. It might be time to part ways with the BND. It'd been a good run, but it had cost her Travis, at least for a while. She wasn't sure she could get out, but she felt like she'd gotten a new life.

Going to confer with us about that? Celeste asked.

Lena's reply was typical: Let her leave them. If she retires, she'll use less of our time.

Why would you retire? Baara asked. I thought you liked this work.

"Sometimes," Ronnie muttered, holding tight to Travis, "enough is enough."

[Stargaizer]

Kevin walked back over to Sly, listening to the news and talk around him. He spoke softly, as much to Tom as to himself as he watched the EEG and studied Sly's body. "This has to have something to do with his power. We were all in that WalMart, and we all had identical EEG readings... this has to all be connected. Unfortunately, this is a working of his power, so I don't see how any of my medical expertise or abilities can help him...

... If only we had someone else that could do what he does..."

The idea of asking Dr. Spyder or Ms. Storm if they knew of any telepaths briefly flitted through his mind before he got another, better idea.

Looking directly at Tim, he asked, "Could you copy his telepathy and go inside his head; maybe taking one of us with you, so we can see what's going on and hopefully help him out?"

It was a long shot, but unless Sly pulled this one out himself, this seemed to be the only way he could think of helping him.

[Grav]

Grave looked up and smiled, albeit weakly. It was good that the others were getting answers. She listened to the story of what happened at the Walmart. She wanted to ask what happened to Hicks, but didn't get the chance, before Storm left. She turned to Six. "What about Captain Hicks? How did he lose his sight?"

[Adrian Moss]

As he hugged his sister, Adrian stood taller. His aches and pains seemed to leave his body. It was as if ...

"Becca," he asked still holding her but pulling away enough so that he could look down into her eyes, "what have you done. I mean, nothing's wrong ... in fact everything's right, but how did you ..."

He looks over to Juno and then around the room.

"Could you do what you just did for me for everyone else here? We - you could start with Sly. He's the worse off ... if you want to, that is."

"This is incredible."

[Joani]

Rebecca looked confused at her brother. "I... I don't know what you mean. I'm just glad you're alive.", she still hugged him not wanting to let go. She was as much her age now as ever. The last months without her brother must've taken a heavy toll on her.

[Savannah Tanner]

Throughout all of this Savannah had stayed silent, unsure of what to ask or do. Simon was the thinker, the one who asked the smart questions, the one who knew what to do or where to go next. She felt a little lost, and reached out to take her brother's hand and squeeze it. Some little part of her wanted to ask about their parents, but fear silenced her. Maybe they didn't know who they were. Maybe it should stay that way.

She stayed silent.

[Tim Wiley]

Quote:

"Could you copy his telepathy and go inside his head; maybe taking one of us with you, so we can see what's going on and hopefully help him out?"

"I don't see why not." Tim replied to the Doctor. "Though I have no idea how to take someone in there with me."

He walked over to where Sly lay helpless. Tim put his hand out over Sly and paused. I'm probably going to get trapped in there with him. Tim looked down at the helpless figure and his hand decended to touch the motionless figure. Fuck it! You only live once.

Click to reveal.. ( Quantum Imprint)

Dropping mega to avoid virus damage.
(18:13:57) ChatBot: (Tim_Wiley) rolls 7d10 and gets 7,3,4,3,8,7,9 [4 sux]

Tim feels the now familiar knowlege that comes with copying someone's power. As he stares at Sly, he focuses and begins to enter the helpless man's mind. Hopefully he will learn what is going on in there.

Click to reveal.. ( Telepathy)

Spending willpower for an extra success
(18:18:52) ChatBot: (Tim_Wiley) rolls 6d10 and gets 4,9,8,3,4,4 [2+1= 3 sux]

QP: 16/28
WP: 3/4
Healthy

[Adrian Moss]

"Sis, you didn't do anything," Adrian asks. He hugs her again and whispers into her ear,

"I think you cured the Virus in me. I feel brand new."

He leans back and quietly adds,

"How do you want to handle this, Little One? I'll back you either way you want to go. If you want to go somewhere private and talk about it, we can."

He keeps an arm around her and watches what Tim is doing with the last downed member of their team. He waits for Sly to wake up and join them in what, hope against hope, might be a brighter future that he helped create.

[z025]

Simon pulled on his sister into a protective hug, his thoughts still swirling from everything they had been told had happened. He wanted to ask about their parents too, but with the notWalMart place still fresh in his mind, he wasn't sure who or what to trust. He watched the others around them, feeling like the two of them were still their own private island in the world, unconnected except to each other.

*Do you want to ask, Jer? It means telling them about us, telling the others that we lied to them, but it means we might be able to see Mom and Dad again.* She could feel the echo of a darker thought behind that, after all they might be gone. He squeezed his arms around her. *It's up to you. You know I'll be with you no matter what you want to do.*

[Joani]

Tim briefly closed his eyes as he concentrated to enter Sly's mind. Everyone seemed to hold their breathes for a few seconds when he suddenly spasmed. He stumbled backwards until he hit the wall behind him, then stumbled forward again almost collapsing on Sly.

The same moment Sly opened his eyes and the EEG simply failed to work showing flatlines on all levels. Sly jerked up clutching his head as if he was in much pain. He winced and drew long rattling breathes.

(ooc: Sly - you take 2 Lethal HL from Virus. Tim, you're stunned but doing ok. Sly is among the living again, yay!)

[Tim Wiley]

I have to get him out of this place. Maybe if I make direct contact he will be able to escape. Tim remebered thinking this before touching Sly. Then there was a bright flash and Tim hit a wall. Briefly the world spun off axis by 90 degrees and he found himself on the floor. He was alive.

As Tim sat up, he noticed that Sly was holding his head with his hands. That was definitely different. Tim said to himself, as he remembered what it was like to enter someone's mind. I'll have to try that again, though I don't know about some unconscious person haveing nightmares. Tim sat against the wall, reflecting on the ordeal and recovering.

[Travis Kincaid]

"Jeezus ..." Travis shook his head, an irritated expression on his face as he saw Tim collapse and Sly start screaming. "Brilliant, fucking great." He turned to Ronnie, "What's our deal here? Are we sticking around or do we take our victory and go?"

[Stargaizer]

Kevin, who was right beside the action, watching over it like a mother hen, followed Tim to where he sat by the wall. He checked him over for a moment, to make sure that there wasn't anything seriously wrong with him, then turned around to look at Sly.

Who was now sitting straight up, drawing long, rattling breaths.

Good, now we're all here... Now to finish patching everybody up, gather what sources I can, get everyone together and finish this.

Kevin stood up and walked over to Sly, saying in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear, "Sly, welcome back to the land of the cognizant." And he put a hand on him, letting his warm, soothing, healing abilities flow into their newly awakened friend, as he checked him for any lingering effects of his ordeal.

[Adrian Moss]

Travis' comment struck home.

So this is it. War over, mission done, and we are all going to go our seperate ways. Why did I think it would be any different? I guess it will be just me and Becca again. How the hell do we get out of here.

Whispering to Becca,

"Do you know were we can get some clothes. It may be time for us to get out of this place."

[Savannah Tanner]

Originally Posted By: Simon Tanner

*Do you want to ask, Jer? It means telling them about us, telling the others that we lied to them, but it means we might be able to see Mom and Dad again.* She could feel the echo of a darker thought behind that, after all they might be gone. He squeezed his arms around her. *It's up to you. You know I'll be with you no matter what you want to do.*

Savannah followed her brother's thoughts and climbed off her own bed, crawling into her brother's hospital bed quietly and hugging him back. Like him, she felt alone, and unsure. Even though they had pulled of this thing with the other mutants, they still didn't know who to trust or what to do. The only one she felt a little confident around was Sly, because he had been in their heads. Though she hadn't liked it, it still gave her a sense of.. familiarity, and she believed that they could probably trust him a little, even though he could probably see more than they wanted anyone to see. For once though, it was her who had the idea, who managed to think of the middle ground. She glanced at him with a silent, imploring look on her face.

*Maybe.. we can just look at the list? If they have a list of people in Las Vegas, Mom and Dad should be on it, or not.. and that could tell us something, right?*

[z-May Allman]

Ronnie held Travis' hand and looked at her friend, her expression uncertain. "I don't know. If... I want to change m life, now's my chance."

Our chance, Purple Murple, Lena reminded them. Three months in a coma means our contacts are in shambles anyway, not to mention the disruption that an alien invasion would cause.

We need to think more, Celeste said softly. We need to decide what to do. No hasty decisions.

"I'd like to talk about what the next step is," Ronnie told Travis, "but I don't feel comfortable doing that here." This was a government run hospital. The odds were good that everything they said and did was being monitored.

[Travis Kincaid]

Travis seemed to realize he was holding Ronnie's hand and slowly disengaged. He ran his hands through his hair which had grown long and was now much darker. He pulled it down in front of his eyes for a moment and then combed it back with his fingers. He braced himself with both hands on the frame of the bed and swung his legs out and onto the floor. The cool tile felt pleasant on his feet and he was happy to find that while he still felt weak and sore he didn't seem to have any other symptoms.

He whispered to Ronnie as he slowly began to stretch his entire body. "Three months. I don't think they have a clue who I am, or they don't plan on telling me." Ronnie could hear pops and cracks as Travis applied his own powers to his body, slowly stretching and pulling his limbs. "Either the company erased me so effectively that even the Feds can't ID me," he paused and looked at the Secretary of State and her escort. "Or they don't have any intention of sharing. I suppose I could be wrong but it seems rather unlikely does it?" He shrugged, "Time to find out."

He stood up straight again and looked around the room checking windows and doors for all avenues of escape if it came to that. He started to walk toward the double doors out of the ICU. After a few steps he realized that the gown was open in the back and that he wasn't wearing any underwear. Not looking back he closed the gown quickly with a spare bit of his own power and continued toward out into the hall. He looked around and saw his quarry and her retinue nearby. Approaching them he called out, "Ms. Storm?" She nodded and Travis continued, pitching his voice low enough that it would not carry beyond the two of them and her small group, "You've had us here for three months, I'd appreciate it if you didn't assume I was a fool. You've most certainly taken every chance to identify each of us as thoroughly as you possibly could. So either you know who I am or you don't, but don't play coy with me. All I want is to know who I am, who I was before somebody bleached my brain."

[Joani]

Outside Ms. Storm was on her cellphone wildly gesticulating with her free hand. When she saw Travis she briefly interrupted her conversation and seized him up with a look.

Originally Posted By: Travis Kincaid

Approaching them he called out, "Ms. Storm?" She nodded and Travis continued, pitching his voice low enough that it would not carry beyond the two of them and her small group, "You've had us here for three months, I'd appreciate it if you didn't assume I was a fool. You've most certainly taken every chance to identify each of us as thoroughly as you possibly could. So either you know who I am or you don't, but don't play coy with me. All I want is to know who I am, who I was before somebody bleached my brain."

"I am not playing any games. Actually I'm here to help you to the maximum of our abilities and resources. I've got here one Mister Nash on the line who refuses to answer my query. He says it is outside my level of clearance in regards to national security. It seems, Mr. Kincaid - if that is your real name, that your person is a matter of national security. This is the first time someone actually turned me down. I'm going to call the President next and request for a meeting. You want your identity back - I'll be damned if I can't keep my promise to find it for you."

She held her hand on the cellphone and waited for Travis' reaction. The woman seemed to be sincere about her intentions or she was a professional of making it sound like that.

[Travis Kincaid]

"Oh hell! Give me the phone maybe he'll tell me, I should think I have clearance to know who I am." Travis was suddenly both irritated and worried. He had been presumed dead and then when he'd finally gotten to where he knew about his prior associations he'd made a point to not contact them. Things went from bad to worse and Travis couldn't help but assume that he was passing worse by.

[Joani]

The secretary of State considered his request for a moment and then handed him her cellphone. "Why not - maybe you get more out of that stuck up Mr. Nash. I will bust his ass for sure once I've gotten to talk with the President. You can tell him that.", Ms. Storm was absolutely serious about that.

Travis took the phone and without giving it much thought he asked "Who the fuck am I?"

The line was silent for a moment and just before he wanted to repeat himself a very bassy voice answered. "I suggest we meet in person. I'm not willing to share any data or knowledge via a simple sat-line. We can pick you up in 30 minutes."

[Travis Kincaid]

Travis' felt his eyes widen, "Ok, sure. No bullshit though, while I can only assume that if you didn't care to tell me at all we wouldn't even be talking but if you try anything you'll find that I don't generally take well to bullies." He hung up without waiting for a reply and said to Storm, "You guys got something for me to wear?"

[z-May Allman]

Ronnie had debated following for a few seconds. When she caught a flash of ass, she was hooked, like blue gill on a worm. She followed, her bare feet not making any noise, holding her robe closed with one hand.

"You aren't going alone, are you?" Ronnie asked from the door. She'd crept up, following him. If anyone had asked, she was protecting her partner. She was actually probably clinging to him, the stress of fighting and the news that she'd nearly lost him again making it harder to be rational. Seeing him unconscious in a hospital had brought back the other times she'd nearly lost him - and the one time that she had.

[Travis Kincaid]

"Huh?" Travis whirled around, the gown only staying closed because of the constant telekinetic pressure pinching the edges together. "Oh, hey. Umm, yeah I kinda figured I was. I ... I didn't want to get you caught up in this if they try something."

[Tim Wiley]

It took several minute for Tim to get his balance back. He still felt like shit and he wondered if it was the virus or the strange scene that played out in Sly's mind that had knocked him around. The flash of light as Sly made contact with him might also be important. Yet before he told the others about what he saw, he realized it might be prudent to speak with Sly first. Sly was in there, (wherever that was?), longer and might be able to provide some context.

Tim was still holding onto Sly's telepathic ability, and he decided to try and communicate with the now conscious telepath, telepathically.

* Are you OK? I saw you in there with aliens and those robots. Did they say anything to you?

[z-May Allman]

"Are you serious?" Ronnie asked, rolling her eyes. "Like you wouldn't come along if the positions were reversed. And 'if they try something' is the very reason I should come along." She gives him a quirky smile. "Just tell them I'm your agent or your babysitter."

She glanced at Storm: "That's clothing for two. I prefer leather and BDU pants."

[Travis Kincaid]

Travis smirked and was about to quip back when he remembered who else was standing nearby. "Well I guess I could stop you if I wanted but you'd make me miserable ever after so if you want to sure we can both stick our heads in the lion's mouth." He turned to the Secretary of State, "Looks like we both need something to wear."

[Adrian Moss]

There they went, probably forever. Now it was up to ... Juno, he guessed. With a protective arm around Becca, Adrian guided them both over to Juno. He felt so helpless and that made him angry again.

"Okay guys, what are we going to do? Are we working with the government, the humans that many have us come to fear? Or, are we going to step up, trust them, and finish this war?"

[z025]

Simon nodded and hugged her tighter, then looked over to where the others were huddled around the still-recovering Sly.

"You okay?" he called out. Of all the people they'd met and dealt with in the past few days (months, apparently?), Sly was the one Simon liked the most. If they were all going to go their separate ways the young blonde at least wanted to know that the telepath had recovered.

[Rorx]

Tom turns from beside Sly's bed at Adrian's comment, "fininsh the war, get rid of the Aliens, and then we can settle the human/mutant stuff without the interference. It wouldn't surprise me if the Aliens weren't behind the idea of the camps anyway - get your resource 'picked' and ready for delivery in one spot."