Logs:For nothing is hid that shall not be made manifest, nor anything secret that shall not be known and come to light.

For nothing is hid that shall not be made manifest, nor anything secret that shall not be known and come to light.
Dramatis Personae Leo, Lily, Polaris, Winona
In Absentia	2021-01-24 "Is this like, full of state secrets?"
Location <NYC> Evolve Cafe - Lower East Side
Spacious and open, this coffeeshop has a somewhat industrial feel to it, grey resin floors below and exposed-beam ceilings that have been painted up in a dancing swirl of abstract whorls and starbursts, a riot of colour splashed against a white background. The walls alternate between brick and cheerfully lime-green painted wood that extends to the paneling beneath the brushed-steel countertops. There's an abundance of light, though rather than windows (which are scarce) it comes from plentiful hanging steel lamps. The walls here are home to artwork available for sale; though the roster of prints and paintings and drawings and photographs changes on a regular basis it has one thing in common -- all the artists displayed are mutants. The seating spaced around the room is spread out enough to keep the room from feeling cluttered. Black chairs, square black tables that mostly seat two or four though they're frequently pushed around and rearranged to make space for larger parties. In the back corner of the room is more comfortable seating, a few large black-corduroy sofas and armchairs with wide tables between them. There's a shelf of card and board games back here available for customers to sit and play. The chalkboard menus hanging behind the counter change frequently, always home to a wide variety of drinks (with an impressive roster of fair-trade coffees and teas largely featured) though their sandwiches and wraps and soups and snacks of the day change often. An often-changing variety of baked goods sit behind the display case at the counter halfway back in the room, and the opposite side of the counter holds a small selection of homemade ice creams. A pair of single-user bathrooms flanks the stairway in back of the cafe; at night, the thump of music can be heard from above, coming from the adjoining nightclub of the same name that sits up the stairs above the coffeehouse. It is seasonably cold today, as if preparing for the expected snow, though no gray clouds mar the bright winter sunlight. Brunch rush has come and gone and Evolve, though there are plenty of patrons lingering or just wandering in. Polaris is a regular enough sight here on the clock or off, but it's easy enough to tell she's not at work today just by the state of her dress. She's in an amethyst rollneck sweater, wide-legged black trousers, and black ankle boots with chunky heels, her black coat draped over the chair where she's only half-sitting with one leg propped under herself as if preparing to vault out of the chair at a moment's notice and fetch her party's food when it comes up at the counter. The very large mug of coffee in front of her is mostly empty, which might account for her restless body language. "So anyway this literal fucking Nazi crosses his arms like 'well I'm a mutant, you're here to serve me' while checking me out by the way, ew." Her rings twist and shift over her knuckles, though they've recently been joined by one that she evidently cannot move--a sleek silver band with a shield enclosing the engraved letters CTR. "And I'm just like, 'Get out or I drag you out by your piercings.'" Leo's black peacoat and soft earthtone-striped scarf have been similarly draped over the back of his chair, leaving him in umber corduroys and a soft mustard sweater. His long fingers have curled around his half-finished candy-sweet honey lavender latte. His smile at the story is muted, though his amusement clearer in the curl of laughter in his voice. "Oh, I'd have liked to see that. The other day I was in here someone was yelling at Haley that they shouldn't be taking an attitude and could they talk to the manager. Always a delight." Winona is holding her coffee mug in both hands, her eyebrows raised and eyes wide as Polaris relays the story. "Did he get out or... did you end up dragging him out? I am not sure which'd be more satisfying." Her hair is dyed in dark rainbow swoop as usual, and she wears a black toque. Her jacket is olive coloured, and her pants are loosely fitted in a black, grey and white camo pattern. One leg is crossed over the other and she is leaning a little bit forward. She bites her bottom lip lightly at Leo's addition, and then chuckles a bit unbelievingly, "Uff... customer probably learned something about attitudes after that." Lily slips in the front door of Evolve quietly, unbuttoning the top of her grey quilted jacket. Her hair is braided and tucked under a dark green toque that she pulls off in the warmth of the cafe. Her black trousers are tucked into brown lace-up boots, wrinkled cuffs betraying a bit of a rush job as Lily was heading out the door. She scans the cafe, eyes widening when she sees Polaris and her entourage. There is a small hesitation before she heads towards the group, pulling a small envelope out of her pocket as she does. “Hi,” she says, her voice slightly stilted as she looks around the table. “Um. Sorry to interrupt, I just -“ her grip wrinkles the the envelope in her hand, “-have something. For Polaris.” "Oh it was great," Polaris agrees, grinning bright. "He left on his own--after I gave his septum ring a tug in the right direction. His eyes went so big." Her rings coil back into static spiral wirework when Lily approaches them. "I doubt he actually learned anything, but hopefully he won't come back. Hey," this last presumably aimed at Lily, along with her nod of greeting. "How you doing?" This question is made a touch awkward as she glances down at the envelope in Lily's hand. "Have y'all met?" she asks, glancing first speculatively at Leo, then more doubtfully at Winona, her green eyebrows uplifted. "Hopefully. You'd have to be a pretty oblivious Nazi to think that this place --" Leo trails off as Lily approaches their table. Even the small ghost of smile fades from his face, his eyes dipping to his coffee as he busies himself with a slow sip. His head shakes, small, even as he's answering softly: "I've seen Ms. Allred around." Winona brushes some hair that has fallen over her eye just a little out of the way when she looks up towards Lily. She raises the cup to sip lightly from it and says, "Oh, I have seen your face around but--" A quick wave of her hands between herself and Lily. "Never really met. Officially or anything. Ms. Allred? You are-- you were--" She takes a breath, then restarts the thought. "Dawson's sister, right?" “Oh, I’ve been okay,” Lily replies, giving a small, uncomfortable smile. She opens her mouth, gets about as far as a “N-“ before Leo and Winona speak. She nods, her grip on the white envelope crumbling the paper further. “One of them,” she answers. “Sorry for not introducing myself, before. Lily, is fine, also. Preferable to Ms Allred, even.” She glances around, pulls an empty chair up to the table. “I’m not going to be long, I just - maybe I should explain what’s on here.” Lily finally releases her death grip on the envelope and pushes it towards Polaris, the shape of the flash drive inside obscured slightly by the folds. "I'm guessing he's not from 'round here," Polaris offers, shrugging. "But it was satisfying." Her wide eyes dart between the others, offering a slightly sympathetic wince at the non-introduction. "Um, thanks!" It's clearly a struggle to her to keep the questioning tone out of her voice as she reaches to pull the envelope to her, eyebrows lifting even higher. She does not open it. She does lower her voice. "Is this like, full of state secrets?" "State secrets?" Leo's eyes have stayed fixed down as Lily pulls up a chair, but his eyes shift to the envelope with a very small pinch of his brows. His eyes flick to Polaris's shield-ring and then to the envelope again. "Is that a Mormon joke? I don't get it." "Is it a... like a stereotype that Mormons know state secrets?" says Winona hesitantly, a furtive glance towards Leo following soon after. Her attention turns down towards the envelope and she says, "I do kinda think that probably has something other than pictures of funny cats on it." Lily almost begins to laugh, tries to stop herself, resulting in a sound more like a choked snort escaping her. “Yeah, actually, that - it’s maybe not a stereotype but I know like five kids from high school who work for the CIA. A couple cousins. It’s a thing.” She shakes her head once, lowers her own voice just a touch. “But, um. Not far off the mark. It’s…” She bites her lip, glancing at Winona first, then Leo, then back to Polaris. “Your genetic data. I’m trying to get it deleted from their servers entirely but I thought. Maybe. You’d want to know what they’re doing with it.” She does not look confident on this point. Polaris's mouth tugs into a lopsided smile, but her expression freezes into blankness at Lily's answer about the drive's actual contents. A low, ominous rattle shivers through all things ferromagnetic all around them and the lights flicker once, then again. Her breathing comes faster she clasps one hand over the other, crumpling the envelope between them. "You -- you still have access to their system," she stammers finally, "and you thought -- what?" Leo's face has gone a shade or two paler. He sets his mug down, very carefully, his hands pressing flat against the table. His eyes have riveted back on the envelope. "Sorry," he ventures, "so that is state secrets." When he does look back up it's not to anyone else at the table; just a quick dart of glance to the door. "Her genetic..." Winona's eyebrows furrow for a few moments as she processes that, and she finally puts the mug that she's been holding down on the table. She watches the rattling of the silverware quietly, and then furrows her eyebrows. "You have access--" She does not finish speaking, and instead her hand snaps out to grasp Lily's in an uncomfortably firm grip. And then, her eyes start to emit an eerie glow. Lily squeezes her eyes shut, hard, jaw clenched, one hand rubbing at her ears where Polaris’s power has rattled them out of sorts. When she opens them again, her expression is upset and frustrated. “I don’t have access-“ Her eyes go wide as Winona’s hand clamps down on her bare skin, her mouth open to object before falling slack, her own eyes glowing the same shade as Winona’s. There’s a rush in Lily’s ears and then in their shared vision, it’s this morning, Lily hunched over her laptop as the last of files encrypt and slide onto the flash drive. It’s Lily on the phone, begging and lying for a favour despite the risk. It’s Polaris with a chisel, Lily’s blood on her sweater. It’s a man with bat wings growling at her with hate in his heart. It’s eulogies, formal and casual, remembering her brother saving people. It’s the click of understanding when she finally puts it together. It’s the last day of her internship, handing over her site badge and thinking, <<did I get everything I needed?>> It’s her supervisor, showing her around the Prometheus genetics labs, with just sheer excitement filling her body. When Winona pulls away, Lily gasps, pulling her hand belatedly away. Whatever she was going to say before, ten seconds ago or so, is forgotten as she tries to calm her breathing. When she does speak again, her voice sounds dry and hoarse. “Yes. State secrets. Sorry. I can put them back, if you'd rather.” Her labmates' words seem to jolt Polaris out of wherever her mind was headed, though she's still breathing fast and paler, if possible, than usual. She waits until Winona has released Lily's hand, hazel eyes too wide and not blinking nearly often enough. "I have no idea what I would do with this," she says tightly, though she's not returning the envelop, either. "But how the hell did you get this if you don't still have access?" She's leaning forward over the table, staring intently at Lily now, her voice quiet and her words coming out in a rush. "And if you do -- you have a responsibility to use that to help folks who are still in there." Leo's eyes go slightly wider when Winona grabs at Lily. "Still? Why -- did you have access?" He sits up straighter in his chair, palms digging down against the edge of the table, and this question seems directed as much to Winona as it is to Lily. "If that's something from the labs -- I'm not. Sure I'm the best person -- this is the best place --" His voice is still very quiet, his jaw clenching as his words falter. "... I was hoping it was going to be baby pictures." When the light fades away from her dark eyes, Winona pulls back and stands up, her hands balled into fists. She spends a few moments tensed up and then says to Leo, her gaze fixed on Lily. "Employee access." She relaxes her hands and continues, her voice quieter as she speaks more directly to Leo, "She didn't know about-- The labs. The conditions. But she worked for them." Her jaw remains tense again for a few moments and then her intense gaze returns to Lily. She demands, "You still got friends there? Can they lift anything else for you?" Lily rubs at her temples, glancing sideways at Winona with narrowed eyes, then back to Leo, “I - am sorry, to ambush you with this. You all.” It’s a moment before she nods, slowly. “Friends, yeah. One of them got me this. She thinks she’s helping me correct a manuscript. I can get - more,” she taps on the tabletop, “personal data, experiment data, if I know who I’m asking for.” She takes a deep breath, looking at Polaris now. “And I am trying to get back into their system. Trying to get server access again. Because I do. Have that responsibility.” She glances down at the envelope again. “If I can get it. When I get it. I’m going to —“ Here she falters, squeezing her eyes tight. “I don’t know yet. Make things a little more right.” Polaris's breathing slows back to a--somewhat forced--normal, and she nods, once, firmly. "Right. Okay, yeah. Um." She closes her eyes. "I mean the bugs they got in here probably haven't been transmitting for the last minute or so cuz that's how it goes when I almost have a panic attack, but Leo's right. I mean. Accidental jamming doesn't help if that hipster over there is a fu--frakking narc." Her eyes snap back to to Lily. "You should install Signal." She hugs the half-crushed envelope against her chest. "I was also expecting baby pictures."