text; backdated to tuesday night (27th)

[lehnsherr]

[he's lost track of time since his arrival. bar the few, brief conversations he's had on the network during his breaks from standing watch over charles' pod, he hasn't spoken to many people yet. he hasn't seen a need to. not while he's still trying to work out what to do next. he knows that charles would be disappointed in him if he knew how little he'd done so far. that he'd spent all this time mourning the loss of someone that hadn't actually belonged to him for years. or was that just months now? he doesn't know anymore.

but regardless, he's forced himself to leave again. this time, for good. until he knows just how to get charles out of the pod, he knows he can't go back. not to mention that already, there's already another problem he needs to deal with.

more than one, really.]

If there are any others here who know a man named Erik Lehnsherr (or Magneto) in their home worlds, now is the time to mention it.

[yes, it's text only right now. no, that isn't changing for any of you yet. sorry?

okay, hold on. you're getting that other question too. the sooner he gets the answers he needs, the better.]

Are there any people here familiar with the technology used to contain those trapped aboard the ship?

I need a way to open one of the pods without harming the person inside.

[and then on to those...other issues.]

[locked to xaviers]

I apologise for my absence since my arrival. There was something that needed to be take care of first.

Charles, if your offer of somewhere to stay still stands, I think I'd welcome it right now.

[and then reluctantly tagged on-]

[locked to shepard]

Thank you.

Comments

[catchingflies]

dont think there gonna think climbing on walls is a threat if i dont try climbin on theres. m probly ok.

[Todd isn't about to go getting himself into trouble that easily. Unlike some mutants, he mostly gets into trouble on accident.]

[cantcatchme]

[Ah hah. So that just proves he's just the same as the other Magneto, doesn't it. Good. That means this is familiar territory.]

I'll make those realizations on my own, thanks.

And just make sure it stays that way.

[abetterway]

The offer remains open.

[Then she grins, sudden and bright.]

And it will be a pleasure to have you.

[tiptoeing]

Thanks, that'll help.

[even though this is text, Bruce is looking mildly surprised] How did you manage a brief stay in the early twenty-first century?

[femshep]

[The knock's useless either way--it's locked from the outside, she couldn't exactly open it for him. (Don't worry, Erik, the aides will let you out when it's time to go.)]

I shot the last man who brought me flowers. [Total bullshit of course, but what else could she do but match his tone.

Meanwhile, she contemplates offering him one of the chairs scattered around the room, but then that might obligate her to try to stop pacing, and that's not something she can do for more than a couple of minutes.

Right now is about 30 seconds into one of those couple-minute spans. So she's getting down to business.]

Somewhere safe. That's what you're looking for, you said. Somewhere to train the sort of people the Authorities are after. [Shepard's brow furrows for a second, and she shakes her head.] You're hard-pressed to find somewhere like that in the city. And the places you do find are still stuck with the strong possibility that the Authorities mapped them out before we even got here.

[She brought him all the way here for that? It seems like it for a second as she turns to take a step or two away, her thoughtful gaze on the west wall of the room, thought her attention's a good distance past that.]

There's a bunker to the west. Booby-trapped to hell and back, but it's a good five levels deep, all of it underground. Only been there once. [She glances back to Erik now, nodding his way.] With Charles, actually. But as far as security goes, it's the deepest and most structurally-sound building I've seen so far, and by a long-shot.

I was going to take a couple of my men down to clear it out, see if we can't salvage some of the med supplies or the food on the lower levels. Needless to say, I got delayed. [The tone of that last bit's definitely what might be called 'mutinous', but it fades as she continues.] Wouldn't mind sharing, if your rendition of things taught you the kind of discretion the last Erik Lehnsherr was lacking.

[lehnsherr]

The fact you're a mutant sets you apart from most here. It places a target on your head that you cannot remove.

[which is why he needs to make sure that toad stays safe. or at least knows who to call if things do go wrong.]

[lehnsherr]

I'll do my best not to annoy you both too much.

[it's meant as a joke, but there's a note of truth there. he knows joining her and charles isn't going to be a particularly comfortable change of pace, for any of them.]

[lehnsherr]

I spent some time in a world much like this before.

[domed city aside.]

[lehnsherr]

Just don't forget what I've said.

[and then that's it. pushing the point any further is only going to make things worse, so he doesn't see a reason to try just now.

it doesn't mean pietro's in the clear yet though.]

[lehnsherr]

[it's a statement he wouldn't really put past her, given just what he's seen of shepard so far. she reminds him enough of frost that he knows one push in the wrong direction will leave a dangerous enemy in its wake, and given just what's already happening on this planet, the less enemies they each have, the better.

hands slipping in to his pockets, erik takes on a relaxed pose, keeping stood up for the time being. the press of metal against his fingers remains a calming influence as he listens in silence, his interest piquing with the mention of the bunker.]

I can get a team together to clear it out and bring anything salvageable here. If the food's safe enough, it'd be better put to use in the hospital than out there. [outside, where despite just how limited the supplies may be, hunting and gathering is still a possibility.] You may need to supply somebody more familiar with technology than I am though.

[tiptoeing]

Were aliens responsible for bringing you there, as well?

...I'm Dr. Bruce Banner, by the way, apologies for not introducing myself sooner. [he was distracted by science]

[cantcatchme]

Or you what I've said.

[Yeah, he doesn't have a leg to stand on, but it feels good to pretend he can back up the posturing. And hey, this Erik doesn't know his power yet. That's as good a bluff as any.]

[catchingflies]

[Right, right. He's not had any trouble yet, has he? But that does remind him:]

theres other peeps with other powers not just mtants. kinda weird huh?

[He feels like he probably ought to at least warn the guy about that. So he won't be too surprised.]

[abetterway]

I very much doubt you could.

[It's said lightly, but despite every complication, she means it quite readily.]

[femshep]

I have a team. [It's not a warning, not quite, but a definite claiming of territory. Just because she hasn't busted the hell out of here yet doesn't mean she's going to hand it right over.] If you want to tag along, that's your choice, but the mission's mine. [Whether or not she offered to share the spoils is irrelevant.]

[lehnsherr]

This planet is a nexus for all possible realities. It seems only logical to include those where magic or supernatural beings are real.

[and after the issues he's had in the past with a certain vampire, he's long since given up on trying to play ignorant to it all.]

[lehnsherr]

We'll have to see.

[there's a memory attached to the words this time; one he actually means to share. it's happy enough that he doesn't have any issue with her seeing it, despite it being a part of his past.

it's of himself and charles, far younger than they are now. still teenagers, in the time following the end of the war but still long before israel, and where the two of them were still at their closest. it's a memory of a night spent in their room, charles sitting on his bed and surrounded by books, all too easily engrossed by them. erik sat on his own bed, doing his best to distract the other boy by attempting to project his thoughts as loudly as he can.

it's of the pillow he ultimately took to the face as charles grew annoyed enough by the distraction and tried to get him to stop.]

[lehnsherr]

That would largely depend on your definition of 'alien'.

Erik Lehnsherr. And just what do you specialise in, Dr. Banner?

[lehnsherr]

You have a team, yet you're still in here. [granted, he knows she'd be able to leave if she set her mind to it. she'd come to meet him once already afterall, so he has no doubt in his mind that she won't leave when she decides she's had enough. but until then, it leaves him without a discreet enough location to evaluate the other mutants abilities. it leaves them without somewhere safe enough to train. he isn't wasting any more time than he needs to.]

Do you need to be? [in other words, is she hurt more than she's letting on.]

[tiptoeing]

Not from Earth, I suppose. [he purposefully doesn't say anything like "not human"]

I specialize in nuclear physics and biochemistry...specifically gamma radiation and anti-electron collisions, if any of that means anything to you. I also have some experience as a physician.

[catchingflies]

yea swhat i figured.

[Only with less fancy words. What the heck's a nexus?]

dont seem like bad folks some of em tho. got a guy who says hes a wizard.

[lehnsherr]

[and that would be a lesson he learned the hard way. it wasn't mutant vs human in bete noire, and here is no different. sometimes, humans behaved better than non-humans.]

Sometimes people do manage to surprise you.

[lehnsherr]

Then technically, yes. Though we were never fully informed as to who was truly responsible for our abduction.

Your skills as a physician will likely be of more use here, as I'm sure you're already aware.

[abetterway]

[Her eyes widen, before closing against the present to immerse herself in the past. Her lips curve into a warm, amused smile.

When she speaks again, her voice is achingly soft.]

That was...thank you, Erik.

[lehnsherr]

[there's only the illusion of a shrug, at first. remembering the past is all too easy to do, but ignoring the pain associated with it, less so. too much has changed since then, and for the relationship between himself and charles, very little of it has been for the better. so trying to set that aside, to detach those memories from those emotions that have developed since, takes a level of control that he could only ever hope to have. he isn't the telepath here.]

I should be there within the hour. [far easier to move on and ignore just what's happened.]