outer_divide

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dropped: erik lehnsherr

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What is being done with regards to repairing the ship? Or perhaps more importantly, supplying power to the remaining pods.

[He's also curious about just what's happening with forming a defence against the Outer Authorities. But, paranoia. Even with those locks, he doesn't trust them to keep the OA out.]

Shepard. A word.

[locked to ~~Israel~~ Daniel]

ארוחת בוקר

[It's been a long time since he actually wrote in Hebrew. So instead of embarrassing himself, he switches to voice, despite being just as out of practice here.]

Ani okhel aruhat ha'boker be'shmone.

[Pause. He's still not completely convinced about this, but he's not ready to shy away.]

…machar. Yesh-li rav.

[audio; locked to Charles;]

There's a man here named Elliot Fox. He may be of some interest to you, attitude included. He has a certain affinity with fire.

[It'd be so easy to just cut off there and go back to avoiding everybody and pretending that nothing's wrong. But if he ever plans on getting back home, he knows he needs to try and set aside as many of his other issues as he can. And first off, that means actually sitting down and talking to Charles again.]

Chess may not be an option this time, but I think we need to talk.

ooc; HUGE apologies if I've gotten things wrong up there. A whole heap of searching/checking/doublechecking and this is the best I could come up with. Please feel free to correct me if I've screwed up!

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That depends.

I like to know who I'm talking to.

Somebody who shares a similar goal to you.

[What, not even a name?]

Fine, I'll bite.

Where?

By the ship. Half an hour.

Roger.

[And she'll be there right on time. She'd have made a peaceful showing, but she's not sure where it's safe to leave the rest of her guns, so she's fully armed with three guns down her back and one at her thigh and she means absolutely no offense by it. Not that he knows that.

If he's out in the open where she can spot him once she gets closer, she'll offer a nod of greeting, followed by a slight head-tilt once she's close enough to stop. After a pause:]

I'm listening.

[He isn't in any kind of a rush to arrive, but still, he's there in time to be able to step out as she approaches. That much metal heading in his direction is difficult to ignore.]

I want to know what's being done to protect those here from attack. [His tone is clipped; completely to the point.] You seem to be the one most vocal about it.

[Actually, there's very very little metal on her person--neither her armor nor her guns involve more than trace amounts of it. But she's probably got something otherwise metal on her person too, for the sake of him having inadvertent forewarning and such.

At his question, her brow's knitting a little. That's kind of a complicated topic, especially with someone she still doesn't know if she can trust.]

Before anything else can be done, we need to find a way to make sure we aren't bugged, tracked, or spied on. We need to know who we can trust, maybe not with our lives but with some kind of teamwork at least.

Beyond that? [She shakes her head a little.] I'm teaching a few people to shoot, to defend themselves. We've also got a team studying the collars, and I check in there periodically to see if they've learned anything so far. [There's not much else she can say until she knows more about who she's talking to.]

Then you work within smaller teams to eliminate the possibility of threats against the entire group. What matter's most is that we are all working to the same end.

[Something he's already sure she's considered. She wouldn't have attempted to organise the people there if she didn't know how to strategise. And while she may still be a stranger to him, he's seen enough on the network here to realise at least that much is true. He wouldn't be speaking to her now, otherwise.]

Erik Lehnsherr. An associate of Charles Xavier.

[No hand is offered though. She has a name. It's her choice as to whether she accepts him at face value or not.]

You act like I don't know that.

[Whether he knows she's smarter than that or not, it's what comes out of his mouth that matters at this point, not what goes on in his head.

The name she appreciates, though. And she doesn't take offense at the lack of a handshake, because to be honest, she wouldn't have reciprocated at this point anyway. 'Associate of Charles Xavier' earned him a little contextual respect in some ways, but there's no way in hell she'd shake Charles' hand, and by proxy she probably wouldn't end up shaking Erik's either.]

I've met with a few of the people I'm sure we can count on, one-on-one. Soon, I'll be meeting with a few more. Once I've got that established, I'll figure out where to go from there.

And until then?

[The long term situation is easier to deal with. They can make sure plans are in motion to keep everybody safeguarded from attacks. But it's the time it takes until then that he's more focused on. The Outer Authorities have already made it clear that they have ways around their abilities.]

What do you have in place to protect those here who can't protect themselves? What happens when they launch another attack?

When they attack, we fight. It's primitive, but right now it's all we've got.

[In her defense, organizing around here is like herding cats. Scattered and generally doing whatever the hell they want. Not that she's letting that stop her.]

And there won't be such thing as 'can't protect themselves', if I've got say in it. I've only seen four or five noncombatant so far, and three of them I'm teaching how to shoot.

[But yes, she realizes that's not what he was asking. She lets out a sort of sigh and shakes her head slightly.]

I have nothing. Absolutely nothing. Not because there's nothing we could try, but because any resources we put into defense right now will be blown all to shit the second they decide to attack. And we don't have those resources to spare. Not until we find somewhere obscure to bunker down, which we can't do until we know who's reporting back to the dome.

You already believe you have a mole.

[He doesn't seem all that surprised though. It's situations like the one they've all found themselves in that bring out both the best and worse in people. If there's a way to ensure their own safety or to benefit from turning against the wider group, then it doesn't take much to persuade certain people.]

Then perhaps it's time to set up some false leads to flush them out.

That's exactly what I was thinking.

[He's only getting an affirmative at all because he's a friend of Charles's. Otherwise, correct or no, he hasn't given her nearly enough reason to trust him yet.

But she already confirmed. Which leads to the question, why hasn't she yet?]

I'm still working out the technicalities.

It won't be long, though. We can't afford too much delay.

[He's very intrigued by Elliot Fox, if he's honest with himself. Someone he plans on having a chat with very soon. Until then, though, there are more important matters at hand.]

As much as I enjoy our games, my friend. I believe we are both capable of having a conversation without the board between us.

What is it you wish to discuss?

Perhaps I'm just feeling a little sentimental.

[Or rather, having that board between them gave him something else to focus on. It kept him from second-guessing his own words.]

Though I suppose that doesn't matter now. What does is that we decide where to direct our attention here first. [Not quite what's on his mind, but it's a start.]

If that is the case, I am certain we could make one. It is a simple enough board to recreate.

[It also gave Charles somewhere else to look, when Erik's intensity or determination became as evident in his eyes as it was in his voice. Charles missed the game. It had always been a relaxing and enjoyable affair.]

It is clear that negotiating, or even communicating with those within the domes is no simple task. It could be in our best interests to help ensure the safety of everyone outside of the domes first. If they choose to attack again - we need a plan.

[They needed organization. a response besides a head-on confrontation.]

I do not think it is wise for us to try hitting them back head on. It will only end in unnecessary bloodshed.

I'll be meeting with a woman named Shepard who had previously made attempts at organising those brought here. I had considered offering my assistance.

[That last admission is a difficult one to make. All this time and he still isn't used to working on any kind of a team. So while making it this far had taken a long time to come to, he still isn't entirely convinced.]

The Outer Authorities are capable of taking on every person here. They've used their collars on those with abilities before. I won't let that happen again.

[Daniel is surprised hear the invitation so soon, pleased and a little touched, because sharing food is so central to him, that which sustains, that which binds us together, and breakfast in some ways most of all. But he knows better, from the terse stoicism of words, than to make too much fuss over it. He replies in Hebrew as well, short and simple.]

Thank you, Erik. I'll be there.

[He doesn't offer a response to that, but the reply is noted. And somewhere hidden deep inside is a part of him that welcomes that slip to Hebrew. Not that he's ever planning on sharing that information with anybody else.]

The power drain on the ship is somewhat stabilized, but it will only last for a few months. There's no long term solution as of yet, but I'm aware of multiple people who are working on it from different angles, both on conserving and generating power.

[Narvin's been poking about in the ship's files a bit, too, but he's keeping quiet about that.]

And if there's another attack on the ship?

[Because isn't that what caused it to lose power in the first place?]

Can we release those trapped inside?

If there's another attack on the ship, we could well lose all the progress we've made and more. So let's hope it doesn't happen, shall we?

As for those still in the pods, we've found no way yet to command the ship to release them. I suspect that the only reason we were let out was because of temporary glitches in the system.

You can't defend yourself with "hope". We need to find a way to ensure their safety; whether it's by waking them early or by keeping the ship from being attacked in the first place.

Even if we could wake up everyone in the ship, there could be thousands of them, hundreds of thousands. Where would we get the resources to feed them? Shelter them? We don't have the infrastructure to support that kind of sudden population surge.

Perhaps waking them all isn't an option. But would you rather lose every one of them instead of making the attempt?

[Not that he actually cares about most of them. But with Charles here, with those two alternate versions as well, he doesn't want to risk losing more of their kind through negligence.]

I think our priorities are better spent elsewhere. If the Authorities really wanted the ship destroyed they'd be bombing it hourly. So long as the power supply remains secure, the others are probably safer in the pods than they are out here.

River and I had stabilized--we hoped--the life support.

I have engineering skills, and I've surveyed the ship's position, after the attack. We appear stable.

[It's not much, but it's all he can do.]

For how long though? All it takes is one more attack to drain the power supplies even further.

It's hard to say. It is an unfamiliar technology.

[He doesn't need reminding of that, honestly. He thinks about it every time he sees the dome.]

A backup source needs to be obtained.

Yes.

[Wing sighs.] I suppose there's a way I might be used as a power source?

How so?

[Because no, he isn't paying any attention to the video feed. He never does.]

I am mechanical.

I've been examining the technology - there's much of it I don't recognise, and I'd rather I didn't do more harm than good. I've been wondering if I could supplement it with some of mine, but...again, it may not give us the results we'd like.

Would you be able to use the technology you're familiar with to create an alternate source of power for the ship?

It's...possible. My own ship is damaged, however, so I'd need to do some scavenging. And there's always the inherent risk of blending disparate technology.

What would you need?

A method to observe the inner workings of the ship would be a good way to start. It's a shame we don't have any schematics.

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