10885/X-Folks: Dox-M: The Pox on 'em

X-Folks: Dox-M: The Pox on 'em
Date of Scene:	09 May 2022
Location:	X-Lounge
Synopsis:	Warning: Implied trauma and abuse. Tabby's research into her recent bad luck turns up deeper problems in the world of social media and the internets. Plans are planned to use the knowledge for the good of mutant kind or at least feeling really good about themselves. Also. Tabby's dad is a complete bastard.
Cast of Characters:	Tabitha Smith, Monet St. Croix, Kitty Pryde, Rogue, Betsy Braddock

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Tabitha Smith has posed:
A late afternoon in the mansion's lounge area down in the sub basement and so far no explosions while a young blonde woman kicks back on the couch. That being Tabby Smith, She of the many codenames and currently Boom-Boom. The TV on and pumping some Def Leppard via Spotify through the sound system and a few browser tabs open on screen in front of that .

Legs in almost painted on synthetic pink leather as part of her X-Suit. Bare toes wiggling while the girl researches a few things. Long hair kept back in the high set pony tail while the yellow lenses of her red framed cateyes keep excess glare from the lights of the screens from her eyes and turns blue irises green. The rest of her dressed in a pink hand cropped tank and red sports bra underneath with the Xavier Institute logo faded out. The top likely a victim of white clothes washed with something red and not colorfast enough. The top half of the uniform left open and tied around her waist to keep the rest of it peeling down when she's standing Spiky black leather belt and matching collar around her neck finishing the outfit. Some red chucks and pink socks at the foot of the couch.

A bowl of popcorn and a lot of melted butter soaked into it on the coffee table not far from her feet.

On the TV where Tabby's bespectacled eyes can see, she probably wishes she didn't. While the subject matter is safe for work. The vitriol that can be read on screan has her looking pretty green around the gills as she sits upright.

"The everloving crap!" she swears as she swivels her head around in case anyone else is in the room and just saw what she saw.

Onscreen: DOX-M. Make your community safer for humankind. Keep the genescum from hiding.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix is currently walking around through the basement area when she hears the yelling and goes to investigate and looks annoyed. "Change the channel and ignore it. Humanity is full of idiocy. Don't bother wiht what they think." She would have called them flatscans, but remembering wheres he was she would decide not to drop the mutant epithet that was very much the counterpart of 'mutie'.
    Looking over at the screen, she would sigh, "And why are you botehring wiht such drivel? You can find other things toe ngage in if you need some level of distraction. Graduation is coming up in the next few weeks an dthat's something to pay more attention to." No, Tabitha wasn't a student but it would probably give a chance for eveyrone to shine and show off some. With luck, of course.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde is walking through the base, attention heavily focused on a tablet. Lockheed is riding on her shoulder. As Kitty walks forward he gives her a nudge on her right shoulder and Kitty turns right without looking up from what she's doing on the tablet, taking the corner and continuing down the hall.

As they draw near to the lounge room, Kitty's chewing on her lower lip in thought. Lockheed reaches out with a wing and taps her left shoulder, Kitty turning that direction without slowing and walking into the lounge.

She looks up at the sound of people talking. It takes her a second of glancing around, not having expected to find herself in the lounge. "Hey guys. What's up?" she asks.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue is doing what Rogues do.

She's bickering with Forge in the Blackbird hangar. The two have quite the working relationship when it comes to working on the team's Jet. What knowledge that Rogue 'borrowed' from Carol Danvers, has made her one of the better people to work on the vehicle with Forge. Of course, their clashing personalities make it a bit of a gamble who may end up in a bodybag someday though.

Right now, Rogue is leaving the hangar doorway and waving over her shoulder. "Yeah, well, have fun rebuilding the engine without me! I'm gonna go find some dinner!"

Rogue looks down the hallway, just in time to see Kitty and 'Heed disappear inside the lounge. So.... in her Green and Gold, with her hands in her leather jacket, the Belle struts that direction....

Betsy Braddock has posed:
Making her way along within the Mansion, Betsy hears the outcry from the lounge, and swivels easily to make her way back over towards its source. She frowns a bit, reaching out briefly with her mind to determine if there is any actual reason for concern - imminent threat, or the like. Barring that, she continues at a casual pace, arriving at the lounge as the same time as the others coming to investigate the outcry. She says nothing, simply moving in to observe quietly.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
"Dammit, Monet. I love ya but if you can't see why this is a problem." Tabby frowns and does a double handed arm sweeping gesture.

On screen, the website seems to at a glance be like those celberity or super hero crowdsourced stalker sites. But clearly tailored to outing mutants and their locations. The side bar listing the names of many prominent mutants. Several of whom live in this mansion or near by. The other side has a bunch of affiliate links. Some seem to lead towards similar sites for aliens. Content that is totally not safe for work. And a lot of empty space that is clearly Tabitha's adblockers getting a work out.

"Kitty, my superhenius hacker goddess. Have you seen this shit! After my last abduction attempt. I went on a Google spree. What the hell were they going to do with me, how did they find me." she explains. "I found the how. Christ." she curses and mutters.

The curent top article as Tabby scrolls. About a young girl from Iceland. Pictures of her taken from cell phone cameras. There's before and after shots. The text showing details of where she lives down to a street address. It seems to be a standard formatting that heads each article including powers. Then the article details where she was found and where she huyng out. An addendum at the end shows the reason for the after pictures. What was a pretty brown haired girl with blue eyes beaten and broken on the ground and then several after in a hospital bed intubated and comatose. The desciption of her fate written like it's something to be cheered.

"This is how they found me! No way we let this crap keep happening! I want these assholes found. I want to burn down their goddamn offices. I wanna use their damn work to find these mutants and make sure their safe by exploding every skeev wiuth a camera. How the crap are these assholes better at finding us than cerebro?" Tabby starts ranting very angrily and very much like a motormouth as others come in.

She hasn't even seen the page auto-refresh yet.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would look over thoughtfully, "Interesting. Their knowledge is quite thorough." Not in a good way. As Tabby looks down over in semi panic, Monet is going to evaluate. Just as to what sorts of sources they would get the information from. Hacked cameras? Passerby? Public records? She's quiet as she's going through the mental gymnastics of thinking through the sources of information they would need. Too much for any individual.. It not looking like something synthetic or an artificial consciousness.

"it's decentralized and crowd-run. Individuals pass along information and tips, and the pages act as a communal center for sharing information. Those whom participate in turn get a rush ofe uprhoia as well as purpose from the group and the atmosphere. It's decentralized and likely in the cloud, so taking out a single database won't hamper it. And due to the nature of it actually trakcing down each and eveyr one who contributes is less than useful, sinc eothers can in turn take over."

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde sets aside whatever she was doing on the tablet to take a look at the display that has Tabitha so upset. Her lips press together in a line as she reads, and views the different pages that Tabitha navigates through.

"Unfortunately countering them with anger is just going to help grow their numbers," Kitty offers softly, reaching over to rest a hand gently on Tabitha's shoulder if she seems ok with the touch. "While there might be things we can do to hamper or take it down, changing their hearts and minds to seeing that mutants are people, and just as capable of good as they are, is what is going to do us better in the long run."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue leans in the doorway. White and brown hair dangling down from the right side of her face as she peers at the people inside the lounge. She catches some of what is being said, but can tell it's a serious conversation.

"Oh god, what now?" She asks, her eyes going from Kitty, Tabi, over to Monet, and then to Betsy.

"heya, Purple Rain." Rogue tells the fancy ninja lady. She then pushes off the doorframe, and casually strolls in to the lounge toward the kitchen area where she bobs up and down on her tip toes to look up at the high shelves, looking for something specific, clearly!

Betsy Braddock has posed:
"I fear that the cat may be out of the bag with them," murmurs Betsy as she moves over towards where Tabitha is. She nods in agreement with Kitty. "Violence will only reinforce the fires of fear that they wish to stoke, Tabitha." She reaches out as if to try to put a hand on Tabby's shoulder, an attempt to soothe her.

"That does not mean that we cannot work to identify who is funding them, and cut them off that way. Stop it at the source, not confronting these people who have been twisted into believing such filth."

Tabitha Smith has posed:
The next article is about a Father of four in Australia. Similar listing of pictures. He was beaten in front of his children, left quadraplegic. And for extra insult the article reports he was denied a Disability Pension from the Australian Government. His power was taking impacted kinetic energy and converting it to sound. Like a mostly harmless Sebastian Shaw. "His talented assailants did a real musical number on him!" is the final attempt at a pun.

The site header tag line updates as well.

DOX-M: Keep your neighborhood clean. Flush out the Muties.

The hand on her shoulder from Kitty accepted. There's still a lot of rage.

"Hearts and minds don't change as long as someone is telling them what others have and they don't. This craps why we got taught to fight right. I can't blow these assholes up?" Betsy's hand is accepted too w3hile Tabitha pouts. And they help keep her from blowing up anything in the room that is very expensive, Like the contents of the shelves Rogue is inspecting.

The next refresh that comes up; It's a fourty something man. The name on the article and the video that plays through the TV though mentions Tabby herself. Starting with footage taken from her encounter with Frost Giants a couple weeks or so ago. Her flipping the fallen off before leaving the scene. Then cutting to an interview with the older man.

"Oh god... No... Daddy." Tabby gets real quiet and the psychics can probably sense the sheer dread building up.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would speak quietly over to Betsy along the mental link <<Please, be ready to shut down part of her mind>> Monet has an assumption as to what the worst is that's going to happen. A nd she can guess what it's going to result over in to the poor girl. Monet would offer comfort if she could. She just knows what her own abilities pale in comparison to what is needed.

A rare look of total helplessness is given to Rogue and Kitty. Tabitha needs to get comfort and quickly. And before what the inevitable is coming over on the screen causes overload. M's fist goes to ready to cock back. If Kitty signals her then M will sipmly put it through the computer screen. Tabitha does not need to see this. Unless ther'es no turning back. But M hesitates.. Knowing that her instincts might make the situation worse.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty's hand tightens just a little, giving Tabitha a squeeze. "We won't let it keep running. Not if they are using the info to target people directly," she says as she realizes the extent of it. Not just outing people, but using the information to target them directly.

As Tabitha's father shows up on the screen, Kitty's brow furrows, her expression one of sympathy. "Let's go call him, make sure he's ok. And we have some guest rooms in the boathouse. We'll have him come and stay with us until we've gotten this taken care of," Kitty says, trying to help Tabitha keep her control.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue walks over toward the others, now holding a bag of mini pretzels in her right hand. Her left is placing one of the pretzels between her lips as she listens, watches, and absorbs the situation. "That's..." She says with a mouth full of pretzel now, but doesn't finish that thought.

She eyes Monet, then looks back to Kitty and just gently upnods at her.

Rogue walks around behind the Boomer, and just stands there for the time being...

Betsy Braddock has posed:
Stepping away from the small gathering of folks, Betsy takes up a lean against the wall, watching quietly as they speak with Tabitha. Not familiar enough with the younger mutant to have an effect with her words, she simply waits, listening to those closer with her to offer what comfort they can. And ready to assist should a course of action be determined.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Whether the senior X-men decide to sequester Tabitha's father and step-mother remains to be seen as the interview plays out. "She ran away from me. Little tramp! Yeah sure I knew she  was with a bunch a Mutie scumbags."The man on screen. The captioning on screen saying Martin Smith - Father of Mutant Criminal Boom-Boom. Roanoke VA. A Watermark on the video labeling it as from Dox-M super imposed over a local Virginian FOX affiliate station.

"What did I care where she ended up." the interview goes on and the man, a clearly exemplorary example of the finest in dirty, unshaven, drunken, overweight, redneck, racist trailer trash in mechanic's overalls.

"She's street trash. A little whore! She's been bad news since she was born!" the man rants with zero love for his daughter

A quick clip of her last attemped abduction foiled by the X-men and the Friends of Humanity's rather embarrasingly frosty beat down plays and soon cuts back to Marty.

"Friends of Humanity after her? Fucking good!" He goes on with a swig of cheap rotgut whiskey in his hand, scabs on his knuckles. A shadow of a woman in the trailer peeking out the door. Likely Wanda Jo, Tabby's step-mom number three.

"Maybe they'll finally knock some respect into 'er. Told 'er mother she shoulda swallowed! Guess she couldn't swallow anything, Tabby's fault she left. No keeping mother or daughter in line. Good goddamn riddence to em both."

Tabitha, normally always has something snarky to say. But stunned silence broken by the occasional sniff and sob is all the noise she makes while tears stream down cheeks. She looks at the screen while the interview ends and more details about Tabitha roll across the screen as the report continues. Fists ball up and elbows bend. The crackle of energy in the air as plasma ignites around her clenching hands balling into fists.

This probably explains where a lot of her temper and hot headedness come from.

Bombs or any other plasma don't fly and the room and the X-women are relatively safe. There be a sign of growth, abuse victims often become abusers themselves. The plasma is absorbed and the hands on her shoulders from Betsy before the telepath slips out of reach and Kitty are squeezed back.

Meltdowns are supposed to be loud aren't they?

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would move to take out a hand to tentatively squeeze Tabitha's shoulder, not sure what to do. "Rogue? Can you please take Tabitha somewhere to help her relax?" She doesn't knwo Tabitha well. She's not sure Rogue does either. But if there's anything that Rogue is good at (among her numerous other taletns), it's helping to find a way for someone to relax and try and cope with all their anguish. She would close her eyes and try to offer what emotional support she could.

Then mentally sending to Katherine <<I.. Do not knwo here. Is this something we could perhaps coordinate with the Brotherhood? They're better at information gathering than we necessarily are and could ahve resources to use to try and track down whatever organization is trying to run this group and help stop them.>>

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde winces as the clip plays out, and what Kitty thought was concern for Tabitha's father instead turns out to be something entirely different.

She reaches over to turn off the video. "Ok, we've heard enough of that," she says, her hand gently squeezing Tabitha's shoulder again. "We'll shut them down, Tabby," she says firmly.

Kitty glances over to Monet but her reply is all in her head. <<I don't know. They may not be what they used to, but they don't exactly subscribe to the Professor's dream, either. There might be moments we could use their help. I'm wary about what might result if they are sent off unguided.>>

Rogue has posed:
Rogue eats another pretzel. The plastic bag makes crunch noises.

"your dad is a dick." Rogue tells TAbi from behind her before glancing toward Betsy, then over to Monet. She chews on the salty snackfood before she looks back to Tabi. "Hey, don't sweat it. These kinda things never pan out good for people like that. They end up just .. ya know.. like with an atomic wedgie, shoved inta a locker. Or worse. Your pop there, is probably gonna have a hearta attack and just end up face first in the yard outside'a his trailer while Pawn Stars blares on his tube television."

The Belle then looks around at everyone. "Ya'll wanna go see that new Ryan Reynolds movie, and maybe get some food. I'm starvin'."

Betsy Braddock has posed:
Looking over towards Kitty, Betsy nods in agreement. "We need to. For Tabitha, and everyone else. Like I said, we need to infiltrate and cut off their source of funding. Hit them where it hurts - if they cannot advertise like this, gain new followers, they will slowly fade away." She looks over at Monet, aghast. "I would not draw them into this. They have a poor track record of being reasonable and understanding, and far too often they take things to extremes." She sighs softly, leaning against her wall. "We have been fighting this fight for as long as I can remember. This is just a much more ... public...forum."

Tabitha Smith has posed:
For the techy hacker types like Kitty, following some of those links will go to seedier stuff. Adult content that is mostly deepfaked. The aformentioned streaming trauma sites specializing in mutant victims. The Alien Doxxing sites and a buch of stuff that heads down the dark web rabbit hole.

"Rogue, honey. Assholes like that usually end up living forever and tormenting the staff at their nursing home." she states, snifling her way through her words as Tabby squeeze back on the hand Kitty has squeezing her shoulder. "Just make sure someone gets their teeth knocked out. It's gonna keep me pissed off for days but I know when this gets back to Scott, Jean, and the Professor, they're not gonna let me go racist stomping, probably. I just know it." she guesses. Valid concern, even she doesn't trust herself to hold back.

"Anyone know how long his shirts stay off in this one?" Tabby says and tries to force herself into something more playful and Boomie like. The growling from her stomach as her laptop is closed up and the TV loses signal is a little more audible. "I really hope that's hungry gurgling and not delayed Imma hurl gurgling." she adds. "You buying Rogue?" she adds and does her best goofy I'm broke sucking up smile to the women in the room who probably have more money than she does.

Monet St. Croix has posed:
Monet St. Croix would shake her head over while letting Rogue take care of Tabitha, even as she wouldglancea t the screen, "Following htem along to their central backer and whomever provided the research programss hould be useflu." That was more Kitty's thing, at least. That level of hacking and research. She would look thoughtful over.

"if we are going to have some polite conversation then very much we have to know who we're dealing with after all." Her tone is flat now then as she's moving togo away. Tabitha at least has someone to watch over her, there's not much they can do beyond starting to research.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
"We can shut them down, but it might take time. Will depend on how good they are," Kitty says gently. "I'll talk to Doug and we'll get to work on it," she assures Tabitha. "I know how angry it's gotta make you. But be the person you want to be, don't let them drive your actions," she says softly.

She looks over to the others to see if they've got it. "I'm going to go start some stuff running to start sniffing them out," she says.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue rolls the pretzel bag back up, then marches it back toward the kitchen. "Yeah, well... good luck affordin' a old folks home, I'd tell him. Those things are a god damn fortune t'pay for.." She mutters while putting the bag back where she found it with the booze bottles. When she turns around she shrugs her shoulders. "Doesn't he take his shirt off in all his movies? I mean, its probably a given."

With that, she moves toward the doorway of the lounge. "I'm gonna go change outta this silly suit-suit, and put on some silly civie clothes. Then I'm gonna go upstairs and meet up in the garage. Cause I'm gonna go out with or without anyone else. I'm feelin' the cabin-fever from summah already startin' up."

On her way out, Rogue pulls her leather jacket off, and smiles to everyone. "Let a-holes live in their a-hole worlds."

Betsy Braddock has posed:
Pushing off from the wall, Betsy walks past Tabitha, reaching out to give her shoulder a squeeze again. "We are here for you, Tabitha. Please know that. If you need anything, please, feel free to come and ask it of me." She tries to offer a reassuring smile, and then turns to head out of the lounge.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
It's probably safer no one's actually hugging Tabby. She may not let go other wise so when the others make their plans to escape and get out and about to work or see movies Tabby smiles.

"I'll make sure to do that Betsy! I'll try and behave. Not right now though. I never did see how much of a beating the Danger Room can take." she says and ponders a detour before the blonde joins Rogue.

"Kitty, you keep me in the loop please? I wanna go kick asses but yeah I know it's not a good idea but at least lemme have the vicarious victory." she pleads.

Monet, gets a grin. "Resting Bitch Face is your greatest weapon. never change that Hon'!" she says and lets folks go.

One day she might find out how much she can dish out in the Danger Room but enclosed spaces pretending to not be enclosed spaces probably aren't safe for the explosions she can genertate. With her in the room she might be caught in her own boom.

"I should fill a flask and sneak it into the theatre!" she adds softly on her own way out.