[When Friday rolls around, Kate has the sandwiches ready. The truth is, she intended to make the sandwiches herself, but since she's been helping Thomas, it's a little hard to actually manage that with her schedule. So a little before Simon is due, she turns up with sandwiches on puts them on a large ... plate.
Look, no one can say Kate is actually good at entertaining. She barely has the stuff present. She intended to pick up some stuff before the Christmas party, but then Loki had turned up with his things, so the rest was history.
So, it's a large plate. It's a cute, purple plate, and Kate had to buy up all of them because as it turns out, people don't like having purple plates. Who knew?
Just the same, it's sitting out with a bottle of whine and she's curled up on the couch watching TV while waiting for Simon. She's barely paying attention to what's there, in part because she figures she won't be at it for long.]
[ As soon as Simon's out of work, he's heading for Kate's place. The idea of discussing his powers always makes him anxious; he reminds himself over and over that this is his decision. He's decided, he's choosing to tell Kate about his powers, the same ones he'd told Kitty about when she told him she could nullify powers. So he tries not to be so hasty, not to look so paranoid or purposeful as he moves along. But it's hard, really.
He hesitates when he first arrives at the door, decides to take some slow and deep breaths before finally knocking on the door. ]
[From within her room, Springsteen barks a couple times, but Kate tells him to hush while she rolls off the couch. Her bedroom is closed for the moment, as she still doesn't want to force anyone to deal with her dog at the moment.
On top of that, Simon seems ... well, she can't say for certain, but his anxiety over his powers is quite palpable. That she can't deny, and now that he's there, hopefully he doesn't mind speaking.
She goes to open the door.]
Hi, [she greets cheerfully.] Come on in. See, sandwiches. [She motions to the plate.
Um, hello! [ He's somewhat sheepish but otherwise glad—and relieved—to see Kate. His gaze goes to the sandwiches when he steps in, and they sure are of the American sort, which isn't really that big a deal. And it also seems he can't tell she didn't have the time to make them. ] Oh, wow—thanks, really. For everything.
[ As he starts settling down, ] I know you said you've a busy schedule, and between the, uh, Young Avengers and whatever work and other things... How you you doing?
Actually, I'm very grateful for the break right now. We've been working on this one thing in De Chima. [It's been busy, to say the least, and exhausting. That's not to mention Kate trying to figure out what all the Brycha information means as her various teammates report everything back to her.]
But this isn't really a break so much, is it? [She shrugs. Kate's still grateful.]
Uhh... Would you mind if I..? [ He makes a washing his hands gesture before going to the sink to do just that while he mentally goes over his decision again. ] But, umm... Yeah. Yeah, I think I do want to talk about this. I think I'm ready.
[ So once he's finished shaking his hands off in the sink to reasonable dryness, he properly settles and takes a sandwich. ]
I've only really told one other person, you know? Kitty Jones—because she said her power was to nullify other powers.
[The moment he returns from washing his hands, she's straightened up, hands on her knees, and it's clear that she's slipped into serious mode. She's not drinking cocktails or crappy wine while stuffing bacon into her mouth.
She coolly watches him as he begins his explanation, and when he mentions Kitty, her lips twitch down into a frown.]
She's offered that service to a number of people. I wonder how she'll help everyone. [There's a measure of doubt in her tone.]
[ He pauses at Kate's comment, briefly considers countering with his own before deciding instead to go on about his powers. But first, a bite of the sandwich. Chew. Swallow. ]
.. Anyway, I guess that hearing about her power was enough to convince me that she could prevent others from using mine. I have two, according to my file, and they don't sound like anything I could activate on my own. They call them "extreme suggestibility" and "conditional immortality". Each has something of a detailed explanation attached.
[ He stares blankly at the rest of his sandwich, his eyes already tearing up as his frustration and despair roil just beneath the surface. He licks his lips before taking another bite and continuing. ]
The "power" of extreme suggestibility, according to the explanation, lets others program hypnotic, telepathic, psychic and other similar sorts of mind control and persuasion program suggestions or commands into my subconscious.
[ His mouth feels dry, so dry, and it's not just because he's not having any drink. But he might need some after a discussion like this. ]
And there's no way of knowing about it, so the file says. There wouldn't be any change in my appearance or behavior, I could be going about like I would naturally, but I would still be obeying orders or commands or programming or whatever anyone would like to call it. I might be complying to someone else's whims and... not have any knowledge of it whatsoever. Let alone any consent or free will.
[ It's only now that Simon realises he's squeezed his sandwich; he carefully releases his grip and tries keep it from completely falling apart in his hands.
He heaves a heavy sigh before carefully taking a deep breath. ]
And the immortality is said to only work in tandem with my complying with suggestion, to say the very least.
[Kate watches his body language throughout all of that. To say the least, she's hardly thrilled about this new batch of information. Now, she can understand why he wanted to keep that from most people. Something that makes him susceptible is ... a problem, even if being susceptible grants him immortality.
But is it worth the cost?
Being someone who has felt true weakness and vulnerability, she doesn't think so. She doesn't even think she could be swayed on that.]
Kitty's powers would be helpful here, [she says.] But not a permanent fix. Some imPorts do have power nullifiers. Some of them have even been fixed up to work all the time. [And in most binds, they would be used offensively.
[ Simon starts to dial back the thoughts and feelings of helplessness he gets when merely thinking about his powers, tries to blink back the moisture that's already welled up in his eyes. Having lost his battle with his sandwich, he puts it down and glances around for napkins. ]
A power nullifier... [ He hums in thought and nods. ] Do those really work?
[ Because if they do work, if they could trust whoever is making it, then Simon might not think it a terrible idea. ]
Our enemies. I know the government has some on hand, too.
[Kate lets that linger for a moment. She doesn't like that he could be forced to do anything. Given that, she might have to reveal her hand a little here.]
My team has a number of them that we've obtained on numerous occasions. We've been tinkering with them, and admittedly, we're currently lacking some engineers to work on them.
But they can be fixed up, if they haven't already. I'd be willing to spare one for you.
[ Simon is clearly uncomfortable with the idea that their enemies, whoever they may be and however many there are, as well as the government have power nullifiers. But then again, how many of them could harness that technology and instead use it for controlling others? Another disconcerting thought. He swallows. ]
I see.
[ Still, if Kate and the Young Avengers have been working with some of them, then... Well, Simon thinks he might be better off trusting things they've been working with. Probably. ]
Then, if you would, I guess... I'd like to see a demonstration of one of them working, first. But I think I'm willing to wear one... afterward.
Do you have a name? I might know if he's still around. [Since they're going to potentially bring this person into it, Kate thinks it's best to ask. After all, Kate doesn't like too many people knowing about the Young Avengers stockpile of things.]
Drift, I think his name was? [ It must've been sometime mid-December when he'd seen the guy's post on the network. ] He was able to make these, uhh, petals rain down or something of the sort.
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selfequipped) wrote2014-02-10 02:43 pm
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Do you have a snack preference?
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Wait, maybe just sandwiches. Nothing fancy.
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[It's about all she can do. It's a good thing no one looks into her fridge.]
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Look, no one can say Kate is actually good at entertaining. She barely has the stuff present. She intended to pick up some stuff before the Christmas party, but then Loki had turned up with his things, so the rest was history.
So, it's a large plate. It's a cute, purple plate, and Kate had to buy up all of them because as it turns out, people don't like having purple plates. Who knew?
Just the same, it's sitting out with a bottle of whine and she's curled up on the couch watching TV while waiting for Simon. She's barely paying attention to what's there, in part because she figures she won't be at it for long.]
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He hesitates when he first arrives at the door, decides to take some slow and deep breaths before finally knocking on the door. ]
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On top of that, Simon seems ... well, she can't say for certain, but his anxiety over his powers is quite palpable. That she can't deny, and now that he's there, hopefully he doesn't mind speaking.
She goes to open the door.]
Hi, [she greets cheerfully.] Come on in. See, sandwiches. [She motions to the plate.
Sandwiches!]
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[ As he starts settling down, ] I know you said you've a busy schedule, and between the, uh, Young Avengers and whatever work and other things... How you you doing?
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But this isn't really a break so much, is it? [She shrugs. Kate's still grateful.]
How are you? Are you okay to talk about this?
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[ So once he's finished shaking his hands off in the sink to reasonable dryness, he properly settles and takes a sandwich. ]
I've only really told one other person, you know? Kitty Jones—because she said her power was to nullify other powers.
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She coolly watches him as he begins his explanation, and when he mentions Kitty, her lips twitch down into a frown.]
She's offered that service to a number of people. I wonder how she'll help everyone. [There's a measure of doubt in her tone.]
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.. Anyway, I guess that hearing about her power was enough to convince me that she could prevent others from using mine. I have two, according to my file, and they don't sound like anything I could activate on my own. They call them "extreme suggestibility" and "conditional immortality". Each has something of a detailed explanation attached.
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Still, maybe she's jumping to conclusions.]
Go on.
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The "power" of extreme suggestibility, according to the explanation, lets others program hypnotic, telepathic, psychic and other similar sorts of mind control and persuasion program suggestions or commands into my subconscious.
[ His mouth feels dry, so dry, and it's not just because he's not having any drink. But he might need some after a discussion like this. ]
And there's no way of knowing about it, so the file says. There wouldn't be any change in my appearance or behavior, I could be going about like I would naturally, but I would still be obeying orders or commands or programming or whatever anyone would like to call it. I might be complying to someone else's whims and... not have any knowledge of it whatsoever. Let alone any consent or free will.
[ It's only now that Simon realises he's squeezed his sandwich; he carefully releases his grip and tries keep it from completely falling apart in his hands.
He heaves a heavy sigh before carefully taking a deep breath. ]
And the immortality is said to only work in tandem with my complying with suggestion, to say the very least.
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But is it worth the cost?
Being someone who has felt true weakness and vulnerability, she doesn't think so. She doesn't even think she could be swayed on that.]
Kitty's powers would be helpful here, [she says.] But not a permanent fix. Some imPorts do have power nullifiers. Some of them have even been fixed up to work all the time. [And in most binds, they would be used offensively.
Here, they'd be a defensive tool.]
I think you should look into finding one, Simon.
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A power nullifier... [ He hums in thought and nods. ] Do those really work?
[ Because if they do work, if they could trust whoever is making it, then Simon might not think it a terrible idea. ]
Where have others gotten theirs, do you know?
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[Kate lets that linger for a moment. She doesn't like that he could be forced to do anything. Given that, she might have to reveal her hand a little here.]
My team has a number of them that we've obtained on numerous occasions. We've been tinkering with them, and admittedly, we're currently lacking some engineers to work on them.
But they can be fixed up, if they haven't already. I'd be willing to spare one for you.
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I see.
[ Still, if Kate and the Young Avengers have been working with some of them, then... Well, Simon thinks he might be better off trusting things they've been working with. Probably. ]
Then, if you would, I guess... I'd like to see a demonstration of one of them working, first. But I think I'm willing to wear one... afterward.
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[Her first thought happens to be speedsters. Otherwise, she's not sure.]
If you can think of anyone yourself, let me know.
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I haven't really asked too many people about their powers, but I still think I might know someone. I contacted him once, over the network.
[ With a few small nods, he adds, ] I guess I should just check again, see if he's about or if he's ported out.
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[Again, she wants to be secure about this.]
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