outer_divide | text; backdated to tuesday night (27th)

[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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Don't.

[She had to. It was just... one of those things.]

Of course.

[it's a feeling he knows all too well, so he doesn't push the gratitude any further.]

Did he tell you anything about our world?

He told me some. I picked up a little more myself.

[He latched onto the inside of her head for almost two weeks. A little bit of information-gleaning was an inevitable side effect on both sides.]

Then you'll understand why my loyalties lie, first and foremost, with the mutants here.

[it's not quite the reply he wants to give. but knowing that charles had actually volunteered information sets him on edge.]

I need your assistance with something.

I still don't know how to open it.

[But that's not what this is about, is it?]

Clearly.

[because he'd like to believe that she would've gotten charles out if she'd found out how.]

I need to find a suitable location to train others, beyond the reach of the Authorities.

They have hovercrafts. We travel on foot. There is no 'beyond the reach'.

[But out of their sight is actually entirely plausible.

Either way, this isn't something to smear all over the network.]

Hospital. East wing.

[It's where he'll find her so they can discuss this in person.]

It's going to take a few hours.

[long enough to find the newest charles and get him settled in to the room. a little longer to find something to eat and drink. but it's definitely not a no.]

I'll be there.

[No reply, but she'll be waiting. Waiting and thinking up a list of plausible locations and wondering exactly when she stopped wanting to shoot him in the head.]

[it's nearing the fourth hour by the time he actually does make it to the hospital. another ten minutes worth of searching until he finds her room. the knock on the door is superfluous as he steps in a second later without waiting for permission. he knows he should be a little more careful around her. shepard is one of the few who'd approached him with clear hatred on his arrival. but she's also the one who invited him there, and the very same woman who showed him the way to charles' pod. somehow, she's taken a step down from enemy, as far as he's concerned.]

If you were expecting flowers, you'll need to look elsewhere.

[don't mind that amused tone. he's trying to keep the mood from dipping too much too soon.]

[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.

[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.

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.]

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.]

No. But let's see you tell them that.

[he casts a look back toward the door, an amused look slowly creeping on to his face. that's only one possible way out, and it'd be easy enough for him to remove one obstacle along the way. it just all depends on shepard and whether or not she's actually ready to get out of there.]

When do you want to leave?

text; backdated to tuesday night (27th)

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject