17979/The Intern Intitializes

The Intern Intitializes
Date of Scene:	17 May 2024
Location:	Frost Enterprises
Synopsis:	Emma Frost and Divine welcome the new intern to Frost Enterprises, where topics range from the logistical to the philosophical.
Cast of Characters:	Emma Frost, Dominique Thiebaut, Divine

---

Emma Frost has posed:
After some time, Dominique had gotten back to Frost Enterprise's HR with her resume and in turn it had been accepted. And so for her initial tour, Emma was waiting for her in the lobby to meet the woman and probe a little more deeply into her.

Dominique Thiebaut has posed:
Dominique has the money and the style to dress well. Upon consideration, she decided to underdress a bit for this meeting: dressing her best would imply she needs the job, that the people offering it have power over her. So, when she arrived, it was in a nice enough work blouse of lilac purple, gray business slacks admittedly more suited to working behind a cosmetics counter in a department store than to a respect for money, and a bit of gold here and there on her skin. Her CV was modest and entirely fake--no job she'd ever held could be put on a document that might be turned over to law enforcement, thank you very much--but she was pretty sure she memorized it well enough to make up good lies if asked about it. Hence, a calm, confident aura as she waited across from Emma for the questions to begin.

She wondered how many of them would be attempts ot gain leverage over her. Probably fewer than she'd guess, but it would be interesting to find out.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma had spent the time reviewing the resume. She knew the difference between one that was exaggerated and one that was faked. Even very, very well done ones. She'd spent the time doing her own after all. Some telepathic nudges for references, faked records, enthralled teachers to give stories of her capabilities in classes she never took.. She knew many of the tricks of the trade. So when some quick research spots some of those things, Emma's rather amused.

As she would go to meet Dominique, she would gesture, "Thank you for being here on time, darling. Many don't have that capability."

Dominique Thiebaut has posed:
Dominique does not explain why timing is important to her. She just nods amiably. "It seems rude to waste the time of someone who has not wasted mine," she observes, her tone slightly wry. An inward joke, perhaps. Her accent is that almost but not quite there New Yorker imitation, but the New York has been toned down a bit. You can hear more of her foreignness this time in the way her speech is less nasal, more lyrical. "Do you often conduct personal interviews?"

Divine has posed:
Divine walks up with three bottles of Emma's preferred water, offering one to first Emma and then the woman with her while keeping the last for herself. For her day off she's chosen to mostly shadow her mother's footsteps, one part curiosity about her day to day work but mostly as extra protection and simply because she wishes to. Emma is kind enough to indulge her in this, so she offers a small smile that she's observed as being something polite to the woman she doesn't recognize before stopping just to Emma's left side. "Someone worth seeing in person?" she asks bluntly.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would smile over, "Yes, Dominique, this is my.. Part time bodyguard, Divine. Dominique's being taken in for an intern position. I thought it would be good to make sure I'm familiar with my own facilities." A quick tip of her head towards Divine to look Dominique over while Emma would telepathically track what the clone's senses would.

Dominique Thiebaut has posed:
Can a Kryptonian see mutant genes? Smell the otherwise imperceptible scent of ozone from her energy production centers? Maybe hear the buzz of EM radiation building in her? It's a good thing Dominique doesn't know who or what Divine is, because she'd never sleep again if she had to answer such questions, let alone ask them. No, Dominique just nods cordially at Divine to disguise a quick sizing up of the other woman's abilities, then turns her mind to wondering why Emma Frost has a bodyguard here, in her tower, alone with Dominique, but hadn't had one outside surrounded by the public.

There's no instant answer to that question, but she starts cataloging the positions of pieces of furniture, judging distances to throwable things and to the doors, checking her memory of the quickest route out of here. The paranoia of such a mental exercise is mostly reflexive but not entirely: her mental hackles are up.

Outwardly, though, she just nods at Emma's explanation. "You don't like to delegate, I take it?"

Divine has posed:
Divine nods almost imperceptibly from her position beside Emma, eyeing the other woman. She is... not wholly human. There's a buzz that reminds her of the background hum a refrigerator, the uptick in heartbeat and respiration. Could be a threat, likely nerves.

"Welcome to Frost Industries." It's actually polite, something she has learned since starting work at the Bronx Zoo. "Ms. Frost enjoys being able to get away from paperwork for a while and put faces to names." A truth, but not one that can really be used against her mother. Her shoulders untense slightly, free hand slipping casually into a pocket. She's still plenty dangerous like this, but if security is making the woman nervous, perhaps a show of casualness will calm her a bit.

Emma Frost has posed:
A mental nod is given over to Divine. What Emma had expected - and what her impression had been from Dominique's mind. "So dear, you are rather unique. Please do tell us about yourself." Emma's tone of voice casual in a 'the truth' turn of phrase. But with a kindness to it rather than a harsh edge. As she would gesture along, going through the lobby.

"I took over this business from my father." The way she says 'took over' implies a less than willingness on the end of her father.

Dominique Thiebaut has posed:
Divine thinks she's still in control. Dominique notices this, and decides Divine is probably right. There's something going on here she doesn't understand, but retreating at this point would be more dangerous than staying. So, she thanks Divine pleasantly for the welcome, and as she walks is quiet for only a moment to think before answering Emma, "Most of what you'd want to know is on my CV. If it's personal information you want, I'm studying computer sciences because I think data manipulation is going to be a driving social force in the next ten years, so the ability to detect it and prove it will be critical to humanity remaining a fact-based global culture. Is that the sort of thing you're looking to learn?"

Divine has posed:
This is Emma's domain, so until - if - this woman is hired, it's only her place to follow along. Well, as long as she feels like she needs to. Dominique is still tense as Divine trails a few steps behind - still close enough for most human hearing if she decides to interject something, but enough to not feel like she is hovering. She won't have much to contribute, because business as a whole isn't something she knows much about, but she is familiar with where the best break rooms and seemingly worst printing devices are from the here and there pitching in she does fetching large file boxes or helping move and carry furniture. She's not a completely unknown face at Frost Industries anymore, but her hats are mostly aligned with her abilities: security and strength-based assistance.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would nod and smile, "Yes, that's part of why I've tkaen you in. You'll get a feel for actual design work that's not of a purely theoretical nature, and any advances you make we can possibly take advantage of." It went both ways after all. Emma would give a nod to Divine and then fold her hands behind her back. "So, Dominique.." Emma's lips are quiet and not moving, even as Emma continues to speak..
    "Who was it that broke you so much?" The words are spoken, but Emma's mouth isn't making them at all

Dominique Thiebaut has posed:
No surprise. It had to be something like that, didn't it? So Dominique doesn't miss a beat as she explains, "Traumatic brain injury. I've lost much of my personal memories, though my skills are largely intact. I'm told such selective amnesia is extremely rare and usually in response to events the brain prefers to suppress, but if so, no doctor has uncovered whatever horrible past I'm meant to be keeping down."

Every word true. Just incomplete.

Divine has posed:
Divine doesn't nod, but she she hears both Emma's telepathic words and Dominique's response. It sounded awful, but not... quite right. She didn't know enough about humans to pinpoint why. Instead she raises one eyebrow, but continues to follow quietly, taking a sip from her bottle as they continued walking.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would nod over at Dominique, "Of course. Is it something you would wish to have investigated further? I do happen to know a few.. Neurological specialists that occasionally will do more experimental treatments. They would consider helping you an excellent way to ptu their techniques into operation."

Dominique Thiebaut has posed:
"I'd be willing to discuss it with your specialists," Dominique says diplomatically, then drives the point home. "Assuming they could convince me their methods are safe, I might even accept."

Her eyes accidentally cut over to Divine, linger a quarter of a second, then flick away wryly.

Divine has posed:
Divine nods in agreement from her place behind the two of them. Being safe is smart, and more importantly... "I would be willing to act as security if you wish to try it." If Emma thought she was worth making the offer to, Divine thought she was probably worth keeping protected. "If it would help?" The question is belated as her thoughts catch her mouth, wondering if that would actually make Dominique more or less nervous.

Emma Frost has posed:
That would get DIvine a smile. Emma enjoys this little game of seeing just what the girl was hiding. Sure, she could simply take it if she wished.. But that wasn't nearly as fun. And it would serve as a good learning experience for Divine. How to gauge when someone was playing a role and grasping at the threads of thier mind.
    "And it's fine. I understand having something like this offered from someone you just took a job from might.. Feel a bit disorienting."

Dominique Thiebaut has posed:
'Disorienting.' Dominique resolutely does not glance at Divine again, focusing instead on an interior chuckle until the urge passes. Instead, she says, "It's not so much that as the consideration of unknown effects. For now, I am me. If I recover my lost memories, will I remain me, or become someone else who temporarily possesses 'my' experiences, at least until those too inevitably fade as all memories must? You perceive the irony, I'm sure, Ms. Frost, that curing me may kill me."

Divine has posed:
That made sense to her. Divine had seen that happen with some of the animals. One thing goes wrong, another is found, fixing one might make the other worse, ultimately something more minor or nothing was done. "That is reasonable. Being yourself is important."

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would nod and muse, "Yes, but the point is entirely philosophical. Did the being you were die when you lost them? Does each new memory and action kill parts fo you and make others live? You imply that it is completely disassociative. That you are a completely different persona than you were, and the two are mutually exclusive. If we're going from a purely philosophical standpoint then, then there's no real need to pursue any sort of attempt at recovery."

Dominique Thiebaut has posed:
"Perhaps," Dominique agrees. "But is this the interview you wished to conduct, Ms. Frost?"

Divine has posed:
Divine's attempt to smother her bark of laughter turned into a cough. She waved off the looks from the other two, gesturing at her bottle of water. "Wrong way," she explained a few seconds later. "Sorry about that."

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would muse, "Because you've already passed the requirements and are certainly skilled. This helps me assess how you view the world and operate. Please do say if it's an uncomfortable conversation or something youd on't feel is relevent."

Dominique Thiebaut has posed:
"Not uncomfortable," Dominique says easily, still not looking at Divine (anyone who can talk isn't going to drown in their water bottle). "But I do wonder if we could discuss the duties you'd assign me."

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would smile, "Very well. Frost Enterprises is heavily invested in shipping and transportation. You will be looking for ways to increase efficiency and redundancies. Shipping and product production have very tight schedules. A freight train will be booked up to six months in advance. Then you have the fully stocked warehouses and trucking which takes things to stories, or even further down the delivery line. Say a supervillain attack damages New York's primary harbor. The port is at reduced capacity for two days until Damage COntrol can fix it. You then have a massive short term backlog as there's no room within the system to have things unloaded in other ports, no slack in the railway schedule to ship via alternative routes. You will be looking for ways to find more efifcient, expedient methodologies. Algorithms, backups.. A few percentage points."

Dominique Thiebaut has posed:
Dominique nods slowly. "And do so legally, of course," she muses. "What team am I a part of in this scenario?"

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would smile, "You will be working on algorithms and computer networking. I have several teams trying variations. Whether to help improve schedulekeeping via artificial intelligence or assistance to human operators. You'll be working with one of the teams trying to establish a predictive and adaptive network. And of course legally. Dear, one can perhaps hire a trucker to take a few crates somewhere, but you can't ship several thousand tons of things regularly across the country illegitimately. For example, as of seven am this morning Frost Enterprises was directly or indirectly involved in the transit of roughly five hundred and fourty thousand, eight hundred and nine tons of cargo to roughly seven hundred and nineteen destinations and zones."

Divine has posed:
'Probably not the team that looks the other way when I just grab the cleared shipping container with the most important deadline and fly it to where it needs to be,' Divine thought to herself with amusement. Emma could probably hear the stray thought, because she had no issues with her mother keeping light tabs on her health and well-being that way.

Dominique Thiebaut has posed:
Dominique keeps her sour, cynical, mostly adult but still somewhat teenaged thoughts to herself. She has excellent reason to know American companies have accountants whose job is to calculate how much money is saved breaking the law versus how much a legal defense and fee would cost. 'Never mind: this isn't a wetware military firm,' she reminds herself sternly. As she does, her fist unclenches. She hadn't noticed it closing in the first place. She makes a note to watch that.

"With that kind of traffic, I hope I can expect a certain amount of orientation," Dominique says dryly.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would glance down at Dominique, "Is everything all right?" Displaying her awareness of the quick change of behavior and then it's pressing down. Yes, Emma could pluck deeper answers from the head of DOminique, but this way was far more amusing after all. She would look thoughtfully and then smile over at Divine.

Giving the half-Kryptonian the telepathic equivalent of a headpat since it would ruin her reputation if someone saw her showing actual affection in front of witnesses.

Divine has posed:
"Frost Industries is good at teaching you the way to go about things," Divine confirmed. The departments she helped in most, at least, gave clear directions and deadlines for finishing tasks, and frequently an order of priority. "At least the departments I occasionally help out in have been good at that. I'm not familiar with the people that do computer stuff though."

Emma Frost has posed:
Divine is for hitting things. Hitting them very, very hard. Emma's not going to trouble her otherwise with such banal things like delivery service. Though the temptation of having her pickup something from Italy and fly back was always present. Giving Divine more mental headpats, Emma wouuld nod thoughtfully. "But, there's a cascade effect from even small, short term disruptions. Being able to predict them ahead of time is impossible, one can only have standbys built in when they happen."

Dominique Thiebaut has posed:
"I wouldn't say impossible," Dominique reflects. "It's just a matter of having access to the correct information and the skill to interpret it. I remember hearing about a terrorist attack on American soil which could have been predicted because of certain financial moves indicating a drop in the value of the dollar was imminent, but because the two fields of knowledge involved are so disparate--economics and military intelligence--the signs only became obvious after the fact." Dominique shrugs fractionally. "And even then, I suppose one can't rule out that the parties who shorted America's stocks were led by superpowered precognitives rather than by anyone who had specific knowledge of the attack."

Divine has posed:
This was over Divine's head unless a terrorist was trying to hurt Emma. Then she would punch them into orbit in one direction and their minions in another, see if they could form a new asteroid belt made of idiots. Did idiots survive in space? She didn't actually care, but it was something to think about.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would let out a sigh, "Yes, but single target events are rather more difficult to predict. Information sharing and pattern trending are things which are incredibly complex and something that you're not going to ever resolve short of having Brainiac on it." She would quip. "And as much as I would love to have such a thing at my beck and call, funding the research would be far, far beyond what I have." Honesty!

Dominique Thiebaut has posed:
"Infrastructure is a perennial issue," Dominique agrees. There's irony hidden somewhere in her tone. "But forgive me, I've gone astray. What hours do you expect me to work?"

Divine has posed:
Divine thought about the mess that was NYC traffic and nodded. She could fly, but not everyone could, and everything was so loud and congested. Watching trucks try to move to and from the port was almost comical from high enough up, and the gridlocks were something else to behold. It was nice that it smelled better farther up as well.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would muse, "Well, to coordinate iwth your class schedule. I'll settle for, say, six to eight hours a week to start with. It can be done blocked around your availbility in shifts. Two to four hours or whatever fits best. We can adjust depending on your progress and other activities and as we feel you're being a productive member of the team."
    She's giving a mental sigh over to Divine of agreement. Some things could be so much simpler up in the air. Emma is wistful - something she very rarely shares, and something that Divine is an even more rarer type of feeling Emma's actual intents often.

Dominique Thiebaut has posed:
Something is happening. Something between Divine and Emma. What? Dominique can't say, but...

Never mind. This is all too good to be true. "And the catch?" she asks, politely.

Divine has posed:
"If you do a good job, you get rewarded. If you do a bad job, you don't. If you leak company information, you get a visit from the Frost Industries lawyers after you're fired and publicly escorted out." Trying to leak FI secrets was dumb, especially when doing well paid better. But idiots, they couldn't be reasoned with like that. She sighed audibly.

Emma Frost has posed:
That was one of the benefits of being an all seeing, all knowing telepath with no sense of privacy or ethics. Emma would smile. "She puts it rather roughly.. But you get hands on experience, connections in the field, and something that will make your instructors shut up. And if you do wish to pursue it, I can get in contact with those specialists though with no guarantees of results."

Dominique Thiebaut has posed:
Dominique Thiebaut simply nods at the threat, unperturbed. She has no intention of leaking trade secrets, not even if she finds out Frost Industries does business with the people who stole her mind. In that case, she will kill everyone involved. But she would not endanger the press by handing secrets to them. She has ethics.

Calmly, as if not already making preliminary murder plans, Dominique says, "Understood. Have either of you questions for me?"

Divine has posed:
Divine wanted to know why she sounded like the hum of electricity. Given her claim to memory loss, it was likely she would find out. "Where'd you get your shoes?" she blurted out. "I like them."