|
Post by Mankoi on Dec 11, 2014 0:42:02 GMT 1
[OOC: I'm going to let Prof. Cinders start this one off, now that you've answered her phone call]
|
|
|
Post by Prof. Cinders on Dec 11, 2014 0:57:36 GMT 1
Alan sped over the network to the answered phone, hitting play on his favourite make-people-hang-up-real-fast recording:
"Congratulations!" A generic, American man's voice chimed in after a couple of seconds. "You won the grand prize in our recent raffle. To claim your all-expenses paid trip to Florida, please follow these instructions!"
The recording was a good ten minutes long, and was a genuine recording Alan had encountered on the darker side of the net. If anyone ever bothered to follow the instructions, then they'd get a computer full of bugs - but hey, this way he didn't have to talk to anyone. Yet, anyway.
|
|
|
Post by Kairo on Dec 11, 2014 1:26:26 GMT 1
About to put the phone down in irritation, Alec stops. "How did you get this number? It's a disposable phone."
|
|
|
Post by Prof. Cinders on Dec 11, 2014 14:30:28 GMT 1
The recording continued unabated. It was a recording, after all. Alan would have chuckled if he was able. And besides, if the guy didn't hang up, he could always hang up for him. It was one of the few things he could do while the phone was locked to the calling screen.
[OOC: I'm taking a few liberties here; I'm not a mobile developer, but I'm fairly sure that when a phone's on the calling screen it can't use most of its other functions. Quick questions: What kind of phone is this, a smartphone or an older model? Does it have a camera? And is it encrypted?]
|
|
|
Post by Kairo on Dec 11, 2014 14:47:00 GMT 1
(OOC: It's not a smartphone, it's an older Nokia, though it has a colour screen. So, it can't use the other functions while it's locked in call mode. Yes it has a camera. No it's not encrypted, so I'll give you some info about what's on it. There are no photos stored on it. There are no contact details stored on it. There's a mix of outgoing and ingoing calls, more outgoing than incoming, by a large amount. The phone was activated 2 months ago. One of the numbers on it does indeed direct to a local pizza delivery company in Oxford. Like he said, It's a disposable phone Anything else you want to know?)
|
|
|
Post by Prof. Cinders on Dec 11, 2014 17:42:02 GMT 1
[OOC: No, that's great, thanks.]
|
|
|
Post by Mankoi on Dec 11, 2014 18:51:34 GMT 1
"Y'aint supposed ta be able to call mobile numbers with junk like that," Rogue said. "Ah can't help but notice you seem a mite jumpy though."
|
|
|
Post by Kairo on Dec 11, 2014 19:32:18 GMT 1
Covering the mouthpiece and moving the phone away from his mouth. "Well, in a university filled with students, one or two of them manage to find a way to do something useful. A friend of mine gave me this phone."
Nodding at her observation. "In my position, wouldn't you be a little 'jumpy'? I can't risk anyone finding out about my abilities, and since I return to blob form when sleeping, I wouldn't want a drunk room-mate to come in and see me while I'm sleeping in the bathtub. They'd have a fit. That's why the locks are on the door."
|
|
|
Post by Mankoi on Dec 11, 2014 20:15:42 GMT 1
"Even for a mutant though," Rogue said. "Most don't go to lengths like that."
|
|
|
Post by Kairo on Dec 13, 2014 14:16:34 GMT 1
"Fear does strange things to people... did to my mind... I'm being overly paranoid, I'm aware of that. But, it's reassuring knowing there are actually others out there. And not the ones you hear about on the internet."
|
|
|
Post by Mankoi on Dec 14, 2014 18:17:54 GMT 1
Rogue smiled. "Well, Ah'm glad Ah could help. You wanna come with me now, meet the others?"
|
|
|
Post by Kairo on Dec 15, 2014 1:38:55 GMT 1
"Sure, lead the way." Alec grabs his jacket from the back of the door, sets the locks on the door and follows Rogue out of the room into the first floor hallway of the dormitories. "You remember the way out, I don't need to show you?" he says with a smile, the first one he's shown since she first met him.
|
|
|
Post by Prof. Cinders on Dec 15, 2014 1:59:30 GMT 1
Alan was bored. Muffled tidbits over the speaker was boring. These people were boring. He wished they'd hang up the phone and be less boring.
He was probably being a bit harsh, but being stuck on an old phone, not able to do anything much at all? Boring.
|
|
|
Post by Kairo on Dec 15, 2014 2:33:18 GMT 1
Forgetting the phone was still on call mode, Alec had shoved it into his pocket, thinking he'd ended the call.
|
|
|
Post by Mankoi on Dec 15, 2014 3:44:25 GMT 1
"Ah know the way," Rogue said, heading out, and into the streets. "Just follow me."
Rogue, indeed lead him in the direction of one of the local coffee shops, and even seemed aware of the local shortcuts. She stopped in one of the allies, and a tall man in what seemed to be a cape started to approach them.
"Alec, I presume," he said, quite cordially. "How nice to meet you. How good to see you. My name is Erik Lensher. But my friends call me Magneto."
"Sorry for the deception, sug'" Rogue said, though her voice sounded a bit odd, getting much deeper towards the end. In fact, everything about her was a bit odd, as she had, in a matter of moments, gone from being a pale young woman in a green coat to a blue woman in black leather, who appeared to be about thirty. Oddly enough, it wasn't her skin tone that marked her as strange nearly as much as it was her eyes. They were golden, and appeared perfectly normal outside of that, but something about them seemed to give the impression of being snakelike in spite of that. "You never know who's watching, and I thought it'd go over much better with S.H.I.E.L.D. if it was one of the ridiculous X-Men who came to get you. You can call me Mystique."
|
|
|
Post by Prof. Cinders on Dec 15, 2014 12:13:42 GMT 1
Thankfully, Alan's recording had ended and automatically hung up. He turned the microphone up, and set up a rudimentary connection to his servers over what little internet this phone had to store the recording. Since the phone had practically nothing stored on it, it also had plenty of room for Alan's favourite hidden partition - something small, and usually unnoticeable by a normal user. He set up a temporary store for the recording there, in case he lost his connection.
All of that sorted, he sat back and listened. Sounded like the mutants were having fun with his target.
|
|
|
Post by Kairo on Dec 15, 2014 19:34:20 GMT 1
Alec looks the man up and down. "Nice cape. And, I suppose, nice to meet you too." He extends his hand in a handshake. "What should I call you? Magneto? That implies I'm one of your friends." He looks over at Mystique then, "However, most people don't appreciate being deceived. Now I'm not most people, but that still stands. You don't have my friendship just yet, but you have my curiosity."
|
|
|
Post by Mankoi on Dec 15, 2014 20:22:05 GMT 1
"We're part of a group called the Brotherhood of Mutants," Magneto said. "We believe in a world where our kind doesn't have to hide in the shadows. Where we can take our rightful place among humanity."
"And where clandestine government agencies don't feel it's okay to watch us because they fear us," Mystique added. "You're right to be paranoid. S.H.I.E.L.D. has been watching. That's why they had to think it was the X-Men who visited you. They don't approve of the Brotherhood."
"Because the Brotherhood is a threat to their perceived superiority" Magneto continued. It didn't sound like it had been rehearsed or scripted out, but more like it was a talk they'd had many times before. "The X-Men are not. Which is what makes them sadly ineffective. Sometimes to the point of standing in the way of mutant liberty."
|
|
|
Post by Kairo on Dec 15, 2014 23:03:57 GMT 1
"Hmm... the government has some reason to fear people like us. It's in the nature of people to fear that which they don't understand. It's one of the reasons why I'm studying Biology, to understand this mutation, and what it can do. So I don't need to be afraid of it, and in turn, others might not be. I can't really condemn people for being afraid." He starts pacing between each wall of the alley, between Mystique and Magneto, looking over at each of them in turn, before continuing.
"But, to some degree I understand your point. I don't like the fact that we can be observed without being able to do anything about it. Nobody likes being controlled and watched against their will after all. If normal humans were to live together with mutants peacefully, that would be an ideal solution. But history has proven that there will undoubtedly be prejudice caused by fear and misunderstanding. However, what do you have in mind? How does the Brotherhood, as you call it, go about its aims?"
He finishes pacing and looks at Magneto, then at Mystique. "I'm also curious, was anything you said to me back in the room true? And I'm intrigued as to how you found me."
|
|
|
Post by Mankoi on Dec 15, 2014 23:47:14 GMT 1
"I found you through S.H.I.E.L.D." Mystique said. "I used my talents to get access to some of their files, and found the one on you. There is an Xavier School, and Rogue is a real mutant. It had to be convincing, after all, in case S.H.I.E.L.D. was watching."
"They don't see us as human," Magneto said. "And I agree. We're something better. The humans will never co-operate peacefully. They see their own extinction at hand. Slowly, but surely, their numbers will decline as fewer humans and more mutants are born. There is no future for their species unless they kill us in the cradle. That is what is at stake. That is what they want to take from us. Our future, our rightful place as leaders of this world."
|
|
|
Post by Prof. Cinders on Dec 15, 2014 23:54:05 GMT 1
Alan was starting to have a problem with this conversation. A, these people were evidently crazy. Better than human? Sure, they had distinct advantages, but they still had their failings. Hunger for power, for example. B, this guy was called Magneto? Magnet-o? Like some crazy breakfast cereal of death? If this guy's magnetism went further than his personality, Alan would have some serious problems. Who knew what would happen to the phone caught up in a strong field like that!
So now there was a strong possibility of actual death. Again. Which meant he needed a way out of here, in case he needed to escape in a hurry. The data transfer for the recording seemed to be going ok, so he pinged his servers to see how fast he'd be able to get out that way.
|
|
|
Post by Kairo on Dec 16, 2014 5:11:46 GMT 1
"I'm sure you understand this is a lot to take in. I need some time to think, collect my thoughts. I have work to do as well. If I join you, I have things I might need to collect, which, no offence Mystique, but I don't think even your hacking skill will be able to get you into a university student's private stuff, so I'll need to get them myself." He smiled at this last part, looking at her.
But inside, he was reeling. This was dangerous. He shouldn't have come. He had no idea what these people could do, apart from Mystique, who he knew could change into other people. Stupid idiot, he'd slipped up. But... so had she. She'd said that Rogue and Xavier's School were real, and that something called SHIELD had a file on him. That was a surprise, he'd have to look into that later.
What he'd told them was true, he didn't like people watching him without his knowledge, and he knew a few people who he wouldn't give the time of day, some people were just wasting air. But he didn't want them dead...
Crossing his arms, he leans against the wall of the alley, looking at both Mystique and Magneto. "But, tell me more. As I said, you have my curiosity. I've heard your grandiose speeches, I want to hear details. Also, what is SHIELD, and how the hell did they get a file on me?" He was stalling.
|
|
|
Post by Mankoi on Dec 16, 2014 5:34:30 GMT 1
"I have other skills, if you don't want to go back," Mystique said, turning into a perfect replica of Alec and back again. "But you don't want me to pick up your things. You're afraid." She took a few steps closer. "There's no need to be afraid. We're your friends."
"As for the plan," Magneto said. "We run a lot of operations. Charles is right about one thing. A show of force tends to bring the hammer down. That doesn't mean it should never be used, but Mystique favors a more subtle touch. Political figures who plan to oppress us must be made an example of. We might air a little of their own dirty laundry. Impersonate them long enough to enact policy changes. Nothing that can be proven, but... well they're starting to learn what happens when they try to tread on us."
"But what we really want is to make an example of S.H.I.E.L.D." Mystique said. "Sadly, my cover there is blown. They'll be more careful in the future. But they have a mutant division. A government agency, you've likely never even heard of has a whole group dedicated to keeping tabs on us. Treating us like criminals. Which I may be, if fighting for my freedom is illegal. But it's everyone, everywhere. It's not even your government doing this. You have rights. Fight for them. Help us take this agency down from the inside. Infiltrate. Learn. Find their weak spot, and we'll poke it for you."
Sadly, the phone had pretty poor reception in the area Alec was standing in, and it'd take at least a good six minutes to get clear.
|
|
|
Post by Prof. Cinders on Dec 16, 2014 11:36:02 GMT 1
Figures. This guy would probably have all manner of magnetic interference around him, messing with the signal. Well, if worse came to worse, he'd have to hope for the best and throw himself onto a signal. Any signal. Or plead for his life, but these mutants didn't seem like the sort to care.
But hey, everyone seemed to have forgotten about the phone. Maybe he was safe. Alan just hoped Magneto wouldn't demonstrate his powers.
|
|
|
Post by Kairo on Dec 17, 2014 4:18:45 GMT 1
Nodding, as their intentions and methods become clearer to him, "I appreciate the offer, Mystique. But please don't turn into me like that. It's really creepy having to look into my own face on someone else. I can retrieve my own things. But, a bodyguard would be appreciated, if you're up for the task?"
He said it was creepy, but her power was intriguing. He wondered then how it worked. He couldn't help but notice the odd parallels between her and himself, though she was just a tad more attractive in what he assumed to be her 'natural' form, than he was. Perhaps getting to know these people just a bit better might not be such a bad idea. At least until he could find some way to get both sides of the story, that is. He'd like to meet this Charles Xavier.
"This Charles you mention is Xavier right, the one who owns the School for Gifted Youngsters?" showing he'd made the connection. "And SHIELD don't pay much attention to them, you say. Wouldn't it not be a wiser plan for me to infiltrate them, as a new student? Find out what they know about SHIELD, and give you that information? I'm not really experienced at breaking into secret government agencies, you know." he looks at the two, gauging their reaction. He truly thought that wouldn't be a bad plan, though he might 'forget' to pass on information if he found out things there were interesting enough to stay.
"If you managed to find me, surely they will too at some point. It's a natural assumption to make. And I'd fit in much easier there than in a government facility."
|
|