sixthiterationlogs | [MINGLE] PLOT: Siren's Call

[MINGLE] PLOT: Siren's Call

WHERE: Anywhere
WHEN: August 25-26
OPEN TO: ALL - MINGLE
WARNINGS: Mental manipulation, drowning, death
NOTES: Details here. This post is for EVERYONE, not just the affected. Please make sure and note if your thread is locked for plot purposes.

It began slowly.

A wisp of song or familiar sound on the breeze swept in from the lake. No source to be found, only the uneasy feeling it had been heard before as it coiled itself steadily inside the minds of the chosen. The sound was a mantra, pulsing soft at first and then louder, growing over days until it seemed to fill the skull, relentless. Come here, the lake whispered, cajoled, shouted. It is cool and quiet beneath the waves.

Come here, it presses now in time with the melody until there is nothing but to blindly follow. The water is calling.

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They can't take it at the same time, if they do all opt in. The final strain still had side effects, though pared down from the fever that put Frank in the clinic. Both he and Jess will want to be healthy when Kamala has a shot, but they're not wrong that it may not be worth it, even if they aren't voicing every one of their concerns. It's a 50/50 chance that she's got a well-labeled placebo, nothing else, and if it's real, there's no guarantee it would prevent the kind of mind control that took hold of people today. Unless, considering how in the dark they are, the unlikely possibility also exists that it's derived from Kilgrave's genes, similar to what Hogarth hoped to accomplish. She can cross that out after a follow up with Frank but she's not going to ask him to go into it in front of Kamala. (For Kamala's sake, to be clear.)

Jess folds her arms across her chest, cup in one hand.

"I think it depends on what's down there," she puts forth and turns her head to Frank. "Or who. And what DNA records they've stored, if any."

That makes sense, what both of them say, and he finds himself nodding along like a numb bobblehead. Down there. He swallows, feeling the need to share something else now.

"There was... a specimen room, before. Out in the woods, I guess. There's probably something like that under the lake, too." If not the same one, just moved. He supposes they should go down there and investigate, in that case. He had been trying to put it off after Elena died finding the door, honestly. "Buddy system?" he suggests brightly after a moment. He super doesn't like the idea of any one of them going alone.

Kamala nods at Jessica's statement. That sounds appropriately smart and adultlike. She can follow that lead. She looks at Frank in surprise when he's got even more information. She has to assume from Kira. She never would have thought the guy who called her tiny dancer would know so much. She supposes most people don't look at her and think she was secretly super powerful once. Appearances mean nothing. "So I'm getting that Kira secretly knows a lot of stuff." She's going to start pestering him for deets sooner or later.

Okay in all seriousness.... "Buddy system." Kamala agrees with a nod. "Any self-respecting evil scientist has traps for when people get too close. Even when they need you alive, it can be super dangerous. My power is useful even if it is not as easy to use."

Buddy system? Is that a joke or is she the only one in the room not vulnerable to onset short-term amnesia too? Buddy system. Her power isn't even conducive to that, for one. For two-through-ninety-nine, it's her inability to look out for Kamala that led her here in the first place. If she sticks close, it won't change the outcome, it just means Jess will have to watch.

But she's not looking to make this about her so she declines by omission and instead asks, "Who the hell is Kira?" over the rim of her mug as she lifts it to her mouth.

He notices Jessica skipping over his proposal even as he's thinking about how symbiotic all of their powers could be. Frank could sense the danger while Jessica repels it back and Kamala lends them her tough skin. It's kind of wistful honestly, more so than he'd usually allow himself to be with her in the same room. It's easy enough to snap out of when she asks about Kira.

"You might know him as the guy who rolled the joints in everyone's favor bags at the party." She had to notice that, right? The Observers are not that hip. "That's his dog." You know, the one you keep pretending not to pay attention to, Jess!! He points to the black one and shakes his head. There are no good ways to describe Kira and yet he's the closest thing Frank has to a friend here.

"He's been here a long time, he saw the village before it changed."

Kamala is picturing a similar team up. Jessica's lack of an answer dashes her dreams of an epic battle stuff in scary labs. Oh well! She'll settle for teenage solo adventures and hook up with them later.

"He also terrorized what passes for the internet here when all our names got changed." Kamala supplies helpfully. "I guess that explains why he knows so much. I didn't even realize this is like a 2.0 version of the village." She can't help being a little bitter about the fact that no one mentions this stuff after she specifically asked to be told stuff. She huffs irritably as she thinks about it. "Am I a jerk for thinking everyone who has been here for a while kind of sucks? Because this shouldn't be the first time I'm hearing all of this. No wonder we're stuck in some weird science conspiracy. No one shares anything worth knowing here!"

Yeah, Frank's description doesn't leave her with the impression that he's covered it all. It's no more reliable a lead than her little glass bottle of fluid is in protecting them from the Overseers' influence and she prefers to work one hopeless case at a time. Kira could be telling the truth, he could be messing with them for shits and giggles, or he could be an observer planted here by higher ranking manipulators. The hard evidence below the lake won't provide nearly such expansive room for doubt.

She's had her sip and finished it by the start of Kamala's tirade or her laugh would have splattered black coffee on the wall and couch. Kamala being angry isn't funny; her typically cheerful voice narrating Jess's thoughts? Is absurd. "I thought I was being misanthropic." Or "her usual asshole self" but she's censoring herself in current company.

It's a good point, but Kamala makes a lot of those. Frank smiles softly in agreement even though the girl's frustration is palpable.

"We shared info a lot better in a place where we didn't even talk. Pretty ironic."

Kamala groans. Yes, she's going to let it all out so she can move on. It's the smartest play she has. No one needs a teenager stomping around a secret lab and pointing out they could have known sooner if not for all the secrecy. "Why do you think I'm so frustrated?! I literally learned sign language! I taught you how to not suck at texting! Where is the effort here?! We could have liked died a million times over and everyone was just hanging onto this stuff because why not?! They suck!" She's just going to scream into the couch pillow now.

They had a guide back there. One which she barely read herself, but that didn't stop-- Jess stares into her coffee, gripping it as hard as she can. She's still sort of amazed it doesn't shatter in her fist, a feeling she latches onto to get above the threat of memories. Jess minds her breathing and she minds minding her breathing, and her posture, too static or too twitchy, anything amiss, he's likely to notice. She gulps down more coffee as Kamala rants to her heart's content, though she's tuned out from the exact words. Once she shoves her face into a pillow, Jess assumes Frank will address it or encourage her to wear herself out or do whatever people who are more nurturing than a desert naturally know how to do.

The thing is, Frank knows Kamala will be fine. This is how she gets things out of her system. It's upsetting, but they're one step closer with or without everyone else. As far as he's concerned, they don't need anyone else anyway. But when Jess goes quiet, his gaze finds her and holds on, concerned for her and not bothering to hide it. He sits back down in the armchair, scooting it closer to the table and leaving his coffee there again, one knee bouncing like he's already had too much caffeine even though it's still half-full.

"The important thing is we know. We're telling each other what we know, just like we've always done, right? We're gonna crack this thing. The three of us." As usual, Frank's brand of sincerity comes with wild eyes and visible unease, but the two people he trusts most are in this room, clones or not.

Frank is right, of course. She lowers the pillow from her face once she's done screaming and instantly feels much better. She glances from Frank to Jessica and back to him. She can't argue where he's coming from. The important thing is that the three of them are on the same page. They can work together to make some progress with the mystery. Who knows? Maybe get some people invested. Kamala thinks the pod alone might have done that trick though.

"You're right." Kamala agrees softly. "I can't expect things to be like they were before, but the three of us can all agree we need to get to the bottom of this before someone else dies, right? So let's team up. I swear I'm a million times more useful than most people think." That's mostly directed at Jessica. Frank's known her deal for a while now.

At one point, she had a handle on this conversation but if she felt herself lose it she's now watching it spring to the horizon line. A tic illuminates the hinge of her jaw, teeth clenched.

"Hello?" she asks, exasperated stare swivelling between Kamala and Kamala's mom. Her arms come loose of each other, forearms gesturing wide to indicate the mess they are both looking at. "What about the part where you nearly drowned? Because of me." Then to Frank, even though it's actually to Kamala, "Or the time I strapped you to a gurney with goddamn table legs?" Because she failed to complete the mission she gave him and let him fall into Kilgrave's clutches. It's hardly her trump card, considering everything she put Frank through, but Kamala's dealt with more than enough for tonight and cares about him too much already. God but it is tempting.

Edited (whoops sounded kamala blamey) 2018-09-06 22:18 (UTC)

He frowns, reaching out to put a hand on Kamala's wrist. He's glad she's safe, and he knows even without her powers she's so much more than people think. She doesn't have to explain that to the people in this room, at least.

"You helped her when I wasn't around. I should've..." But he'd been giving a woman he didn't know CPR, how apt. His expression darkens at the mention of that night, withdrawing his hand and staring into Jessica's face now, as if he's acknowledging her presence for the first time now, in full. "You did your best then, too. You tried. It's more than most people do."

And it means Jess cares, about both of them. It's something he keeps skipping over somehow, but he's not going to this time. He can't, not when she's so obviously hurting.

"We can do this, Jess. All of us. Together."

Edited (lord) 2018-09-06 22:26 (UTC)

Kamala smiles a little when he touches her hand. It is comforting after the reminder of the whole almost drowning thing. The truth is Kamala is always moving forward. This isn't even the first time she almost died either. She just couldn't live with it maybe being her idea. Now that idea has been laid to rest? She's okay. Mostly. She might cuddle with dogs for a while and ask Frank for a hug later, but otherwise okay!

She shakes her head at Jessica's argument since Frank explained the rest. "That isn't your fault. Someone did something bad to me and they found a way to get around you so they could keep doing it. It sucks, but it happens. At least you made it hard enough so someone could succeed in rescuing me from them."

She's alive because Owen was in the right place at the right time. That time part is specifically because of Jessica. "Look it's not like I have a hundred percent success rate either. If I gave up when I failed, a lot of kids would be dead right now. You know humans in general with that other guy. Long story. My point is Frank is right." Which doesn't get said enough so let him have this one, Jessica!!!

How is a teenager successfully high-roading her? Over not the thing she came here to be high-roaded over. Jess irons a breath flat as she takes it in. It comes out heavy anyway. They could argue this until the rest of Whitney's green gaggle comes home but it would lock them into a circular trajectory leading right back here, at the start. She doubts listing off her personal casualties would dissuade Kamala, all it would do is expose the real issue: Jess can't handle someone dying on her again.

"Anything I find out, I'll let you know," her voice is steely as she attempts to compromise, negotiating primarily with Kamala, whose gaze she holds as she crosses to the coffee table to set down the remainder of her coffee. "You watch each other's backs." She has her bubble, after all. She still can't conceive of how it could be useful to anyone else, short of tossing herself into the line of fire, and as appealing as that genuinely sounds, she'd find a way to fuck it up.

He goes quiet for a long beat after they both finish their pieces. Frank isn't as accustomed to the silence as he used to be, but here, in this room? It's natural. With people who understand.

"Good. We keep each other in the loop." He likes this plan even if Jessica still doesn't want to commit to a team-up. He can understand why even if he doesn't agree. But he's still annoyingly himself, so here goes. "Thank you, for watching Kam's back when I wasn't there."

Kamala nods in agreement. That is a good compromise to her. She can live with her usual team-up buddy getting into stuff with her yet again. "Will do! Frank will sense danger and I'll make sure we're tough enough to handle it." An excellent plan since she's pretty good at triggering powers once she knows they exist. Sure it's hard, but she's got the idea down!

The rest she lets go. Kamala will let Frank hand out gratitude at his own risk.

Oh my god, she thinks. Let it go. Jess didn't save anyone's life. If she'd taken off a few minutes later, who knows what kind of silence would be filling this house right now. These people are Trish levels of delusional. (They're Trish levels of a lot of things.)

"Thanks for the coffee," Jess says with a nod that's pretending to accept Frank's thanks and Kamala's satisfaction, optimism, earnest nature, general Kamalaness. At the back of her eyes, she's already preoccupied with the real world math of drinking more and jogging less, but that's a hell of a quick calculation as far as tonight is concerned. It gives her a little purpose to bow out with, rather than the impression that she has nowhere in mind to go.

He nods, having expected something much more argumentative. Like screaming at him in the rain and almost falling off a roof, as an example. But they are in the presence of children, maybe he should have been using Kamala as a buffer all along.

"Any time," he says, voice warm and tone sincere. Apparently, he's over her treating him like shit already. Is anyone surprised?

Kamala is blissfully unaware of all these super adult thoughts going around. She's just over here being slightly disappointed Jessica is leaving, but mostly okay with. She's probably off to do something important or something. "Seriously! We love sharing coffee and popcorn. We're basically a better version of Starbucks at this point." Because of the lack of half-dead teachers, college students, and hipsters tbh.

She feigns a small smile for Kamala's sake, waving goodbye to the pair of them as she turns away. The outside air is a brisk welcome as she sees herself out, shutting the door behind her. It suits the space she has between her thoughts now it's not being cluttered with unwarranted expectations. Normally she'd throw herself head first into the clonespiracy work, but what's normal anymore? It'll get upended the second she settled on a definition so why bother. Jess tucks her hands into her pockets and heads back the way she came. There she can drain some booze into her water bottle and resume her walk to wherever she ends up walking. For some reason, she's thinking lake.

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[MINGLE] PLOT: Siren's Call

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