Logs:Origin Story

Origin Story
cn imprisonment
Dramatis Personae Joshua, Skye
In Absentia	2021-10-23 "{Fooled me, all that rumbling."
Location <MA> Dirac Research Laboratory - Rec Room
There are actually two rooms here -- a luxury by Prometheus standards, as the subjects are often reminded. One contains a big flat screen TV and a lot of chairs that can be deployed for movie nights or folded away for events that requires space. There are even gaming consoles in here, though the selection of games is extremely eclectic. The other is larger and considerably more eclectic in terms of entertainment options. The far wall of the room is mostly taken up by bookshelves, with comfortable seating from long couches to armchairs to beanbags are arranged nearby. Several card tables are clustered around the smaller -- though still well-stocked -- shelves of board games. There is an arts and crafts corner, the supplies limited for security reasons, but still popular with the younger and artistically inclined subjects. Skye has already made a bit of a name for herself as a badass video gamer, though she's avoided the competitive games so far. With no testing scheduled for the day she's just been circulating the rec room slowly, playing games and making conversation. Now, perhaps desperate to resist the sire song of the Hawken tournament in the TV room, she's curled up on the couch engrossed in a hardback copy of Kushiel's Chosen that judging by the dust jacket and stickers looks like it was stolen from a library. Joshua hasn't made much of a name for himself past the one he already arrived with -- there are plenty who've heard of him one way or another, from his many years here before or the raid team or both, but his actual presence has proved somewhat underwhelming. Aside from a few glances and whispers, then, it doesn't make much of a ripple when he slips into the rec room, looking haggard and very underslept but otherwise Fine. He trudges over toward the couch, dropping himself onto the opposite corner from Skye with a chin-lift of greeting and draping himself over the arm, his arm slung casually across his eyes. Skye does not jump to her feet the moment she spots Joshua, although she twitches in a way that suggests she really wanted to. "{Damn they're keeping you busy.}" Her Mandarin is quiet, glib, forced-casual. "{You alright?}" She lowers the book though she does not close it, her fingers playing restlessly along the slanting edges of the pages. "{I mean. Considering.}" "Pff." Joshua doesn't move his arm from his eyes. "{These people got nothing on a heart attack coming in right at the end of a double shift on my truck.}" He worms his way semi-upright, slouched sideways now against the back of the couch. "{How's the book?}" "{I knew you were badass but.}" There are not apparently words adequate to describe Skye's current estimation of Joshua's badassery, because the sentence just ends there. She looks down at the book dubiously and looks back up at Joshua. "{I'm not totally sure what's going on? I don't think it's very good, but it's good distraction. They don't like, do testing on weekends, do they?}" Her tone doesn't really change, but her shoulders have gone tight -- tighter. "{The government doesn't do shit on weekends. We're lucky they feed us.}" Now Joshua's hand does drop from his eyes, his smile a little wry. "{Better food,}" he says dryly, "{than they get at home, I'm sure.}" Skye relaxes, just a little. "{Thank heaven and earth, gods and Buddhas and whoever the fuck else I'll take anyone in my corner right about now.}" This comes out in a tight, flat litany. "{I mean the food. Isn't bad, I guess? Though it sure doesn't hold a candle to...}" She deflates, sinking back into the cushions. "{Shit. You know I always thought I was gonna get disappeared over hacking, not being a --}" She swallows, tries to keep her tone even and unchanged. "{I'm not a mutant.}" This just makes Joshua snort, quiet. "{Fooled me, all that rumbling. Best let the guards know, maybe they'll let you out.}" "{I know, I know. I have no idea how the fuck that even...}" Skye squeezes her eyes shut. "{But they ran a bunch of tests and I overheard enough. They seemed really fucking excited about it, and I can't see why they'd go through all that trouble to make me believe that.}" She breathes slow and steady. "{Lily said the same thing. She can't copy me, and I thought she just sucked at her thing, but now...}" Joshua cracks an eye open, staring over at Skye. "{You're serious? But how -- what? You --}" His head shakes, firm. "{I can do you just fine. How does...}" His brows are pinching slowly together. "{... they didn't say... what you are, then? How you --}" He gestures vaguely toward Skye. "{I know. I mean, I don't know.}" Skye scrubs her face with the heel of one hand. "{Cuz, right, like you can, and Ma -- }" She stalls for a moment before substituting the Mandarin transliteration of "Matthew" which, luckily for their current purposes, sounds almost nothing like any western variation of the name. "{Maxiu can, too. And like, Captain America isn't a mutant, but I think I'd notice if I got shot with superpower rays or whatever.}" She chews on her lower lip, her eyes downcast. "{But. You know my mom right? She...I mean, she got involved because my dad worked for -- these motherfuckers.}" "{Your dad --}" Joshua's mouth opens into a small o. Closes. "{Well. That's definitely a superhero origin story right there. Let's just hope we don't have to fight him to get out of here.}"