14824/Kitty's Expert

Kitty's Expert
Date of Scene:	02 May 2023
Location:	Warren's Penthouse
Synopsis:	Doug you're so money, you don't even know how money you are.
Cast of Characters:	Warren Worthington, Douglas Ramsey

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Warren Worthington has posed:
As a courtesy, Warren always offered two options to his guests: Helicopter or Limosine. So few ever took him up on either, as most of his guests could fly, teleport, or otherwise thwart even the most pedestrian of expectations. Even though Douglas Ramsey was excrutiatingly gifted in the most unusual ways, he was offered the same courtesy in the message that read:

Mr. Ramsey,

We've met before but our association has not been as frequaint as our mutual friend, Kitty Pryde. I have something to share with you, involving something I need looked into. It would seem to fall into your skillset, but despite that and mutual friendships, you should feel no obligation. If you need something ask for, if there should be a fee, I will pay it. Please join me at One Madison at your conveniance, I will send transportation as required.

Sincerely,

Warren Worthington III

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
That's a heck of a thing. Doug was doing - whatever the heck it is he does, it involved computers - when Warren's message popped up.

"I've never gotten an email that made me think I should buy a fancier outfit before," Doug says. "Well. We all know that's not true."

Dear Mr. Worthington

Or should I just call you 'Warren'? I'm happy to help. I'll swing by the day after tomorrow.

Sincerely Yours,

-Doug

When Doug does arrive, he's wearing chinos, all-stars, and an oversized gray sweater with an overlarge, fluffy collar. He also has a pair of black-rim smart glasses on, and is... using his eyes to curate his iTunes playlists when he walks up to Warren's building and introduces himself to the doorman. "Doug Ramsey, I'm here to see Mr. Worthington - I believe I'm expected?"

Warren Worthington has posed:
Arriving from a nearby lift, having been alerted to Doug's arrival and rushed down to great him. "Where the fuck did you get that sweater?!" said Warren, freezing mid handshake extension and then getting another angle on the sweat before moving back in to offer something akin to a side-five. "I like it. Listen, I read your replay, of course you can call me Warren. Thanks for coming over so quick, shall we head up." he upnodded the Doorperson affably, "He's with me." and then tipped quickly. "Can I call you Doug?"

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
"I saw it in a window and I just had to have it." Doug says, "It's like an all-day hug."

As they head for the elevator, he says, "...Call me Doug, please. I answer to 'Douglas' but it's the formal tone, it always makes me feel like I'm talking to my grandmother. Or Professor Xavier." He raises his eyebrows. "Massive tonal shift between the formal email and the casual in-person, by the way. I like it." He walks along, quietly taking note of everything around him.

"So how can I help you, Warren? My costs are pretty much minimal, since I supply my own computer equipment. If I'm going to be pulling all-nighters I'll require energy drinks and access to your gym, I do my best 3 AM thinking on the treadmill."

Warren Worthington has posed:
Warren Worthington explained as they rode up up up. "Well, I don't know how much Kitty told you so far. Basically we found my grandmother's wedding ring in a vault at my company's research facility. Ruth Worthington." he paused, "Even though the task is probably trivial, I always work well within context. Would you like some context?"

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug casually rides up, and then says, "Not what I'm usually called in on," He admits, "But I do love novelty." He gives a faint grin, before he unzips enough of the sweater to reveal the lower half of his face. "Context would be good. I get the impression there's a mystery related to this. Some sort of script on the ring nobody can read?"

Warren Worthington has posed:
Warren snorted, amused, his face lighting up handsomely when he did. Stepping out into the main hall ahead of Doug, he extended his massive wings out, adjusting each feather's position just so; as if he had individual control over them, and then folded them back in. "Ruth is the mother of my Father, and my grandmother. My father was murdered by his brother, my uncle Burt. Before any of this came out though, my mother Kathryne married Burt in something that was way too much like the plot of Hamlet to be funny or comforting, then Burt murdered my mother. Before that came out, burt remaried to a woman named Sable, who is still alive today and we are pretty close. She told me about Ruth's ring. Now Ruth's ring came into the foreground because it was sitting in safe at Labs, and one of the scientists at Labs complained about some kind of signal messing up his work. Turns out, through some intrigue and machinations, its this ring."

Warren produced the small holder from his safe, the ring once lived in a small velvet box as was tradition, now it was in a cool sci-fi clear crystal contraption that allowed it to be seen while blocking the RF signal coming from it.

"I wanted this looked into Doug, but Ruth was a good woman. She didnt care for my father much, but then no one did. If there is something wrong here, I dont want it going on Ruth's record unless it has to. Right? You can't take wealth with you, when your gone memory is all you have left. I feel somewhat protective of Ruth's."

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
It's hard not to admire - the spread of the wings, the iridescence, the way Warren seems more himself when he's able to stretch them out. Doug stops sorting his iTunes selections and takes his glasses off, putting them away, since he doesn't actually need them.

He unzips his sweater, revealing his 'Camp Crystal Lake' t-shirt.

He leans in and studies the ring, before he rubs his chin and says, "...You know is there one of us where when you ask them what their relationship with their family is, it's 'Oh, it's great, I haven't been disowned, there are no murder-suicides, my father-slash-mother didn't die when I was youn, leaving me emotionally bereft...'"

He looks up. "You want me to decode the signal? I can do that, easy."

Warren Worthington has posed:
Warren Worthington pauses mid thought to listen to the words coming out of Cypher's mouth. "You make a compelling point." he resists the urge to look at the fourth wall, somehow. "Ok, here is some information that Kitty came up with. I think this is more your wheelhouse than mine. Tell me what you think."

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug takes in the info. He rubs his chin, and is quiet for a long time. "Huh. A four-dimensional encryption algorithm... this looks like some World War II hypercryptography maybe?"

He gestures. "All right." He gets his computer out, and brings up a program, his fingers flying as he begins setting up parameters. "Ok. Open her up. Let me get a look at this signal." He waits for Warren to do so, then stares into his mysterious program.

"Wait, wait, I know this! OK, this is Tabgha4, from the late 60s. Heck of a thing, this was all supposed to have been destroyed-" He interrupts himself, his thoughts continually switching tracks. "So, good - this is a known cipher. Bad. The decryption key for it no longer exists. Good - I *am* a decryption key, so this cipher means absolutely nothing to me." He raises his eyebrows. "Do you want me to tell you what it says or do you want to hang onto the suspense?"

Warren Worthington has posed:
Warren lifted his brow in excitement as Doug did, seeming to catch on to the momentum of discovery and probably knowing that Doug was the only person who could do this for him, or at least this quickly. "I...I'm not sure, should I know, should I ask, is it private? Should we forget about it and move on? If its bad I don't wanna know. Is it bad? Ruth is like..." he paused holding up a finger, "...shes like a shining light in an otherwise dark room. Doug, this better not be bad, I won't stand for it. Alright? Ruth Worthington was a SAINT."

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug raises his eyebrows. "Well, there's one way to find out."

He cracks the cipher, and as it decodes, the text runs along the screen.

He silently mouths the words of the-

"...It's a love poem."

He furrows his brow and then says, "It's a sort of wreathed octave poem."

He rubs his chin and leans back. "It's very sweet. I'm looking for anything encoded into the lines of the poem. It's all very basic and cute, except - Palus Somni. What an odd, specific reference. Palus Somni is a location on the Moon."

Warren Worthington has posed:
Warren Worthington was about to react and then he paused. "That sounds like Latin." he said, his mind drifting. He looked at Doug for a long moment, and then shrugged. "Well." He wasn't sure what to do with this information or where to go next. "Well, that's not a bad thing so it meets my criteria." he laughed nervously.

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
"It is, but its translation into english is much less romantic - Somni means 'Dreams' and Palus means... bog, basically." Doug says. "It's usually more politely translated into 'Marsh' or 'Swamp' but it basically means a low, boggy plain- so you could translate Palus Somni into 'Swamp of Dreams'."

Doug leans back in his chair, and looks up at Warren as he puts his hands behind his head. "You all right?"

Warren Worthington has posed:
Warren Worthington nodded after a moment, "Yeah. No, I'm fine. I think I was just braced for bad news. You know? Digging into the past, in your families past, it can be really fraught sometimes. This whole time I have really been questioning if this was a good idea. Committing to something like this, setting everything up, asking for help, keeping things quiet. But, I think this is a good thing. It feels right." almost seeming like Warren was talking about something else, or lacing something unexplained into the conversation. "Do you think involving Kitty in this was a good call? Its just a poem, you know, that has a reference to a place that on the moon, that my family has had a considerable, convoluted, long term interest in."

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug raises his eyebrows. "Kitty loves stuff like this. Why? Does something about her make you nervous?" He looks back to the computer. "Palus Somni... it's so *odd*. It just sticks out at you. It's not an anything on the moon. It's a relatively flat area."

He reads over the poem again. "It sounds to me like somebody loved your grandmother very much."

Warren Worthington has posed:
Warren Worthington nodded vaguely, "It does sound like that." and then he admitted, handing Ramsey something nice to drink. "I think I need to do some digging on my own." and then he wondered suddenly, "Hey can I ask another favor of you?"

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug tilts his head. "I like to think we're friends who've just really met." He grins, slightly, and then says, "Sure." He pops the tab on whatever Warren just handed him and takes a slug of it. "...Mmm. Sparkling mineral water, from Italy based on the taste of the minerals, but not from any brand I know of. ...You own your own mineral water spring, don't you."

Warren Worthington has posed:
Warren Worthington shrugged again smiling with amusement, "I'd have to look into it." he admitted to not knowing every minutia of his corporations holdings. "Entirely possible." he admitted, "Is it good? If its good I'll take the credit in lieu." he chuckled despite himself. "Anyway can you, at your convenience, bring this information back to Kitty? Just give it to her straight and then walk her through your steps, best you can. My thinking is if she understands your process, with her intellect, she might pick up on something that just comes natural to you, and that could lead to further insight. Will you do that for me? I'm just asking best effort, you dont have to move mountains."

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
"I can do that, but-" Doug looks up at Warren. "It's always nice to hang out with her, but-" He looks up at Warren. "...I - huh. Well, sure. Happy to do it." He shrugs his shoulders, and then puts one hand on his computer, before he closes it. "I can also tell you where I got the sweater, if you like. It was this place up in Maine..." Then he adds, "It is pretty good, yeah. Nice mineral balance."

Warren Worthington has posed:
Warren perked up, "In Maine you say?" and then he shifted his weight. "Tell me a little about yourself Doug, how did you come about these incredible gifts. Your a fellow mutant right? Someone gets wings its obvious, but something related to mental acuity might be hard to distinguish from just being smart until the right opportunity presented itself?"

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug pauses, and his cheeks color faintly. "...I'm not really used to talking about myself. It As for being a mutant, I really had no idea, I just thought I was a sort of nerd - I mean. Mormon. Boy scout. Chess club, track team, soccer, D&D club-" He shrugs. "I think it first manifested in 7th grade spanish class. I walked in knowing spanish off the Taco Bell menu and by the end of fourth period I was having rudimentary conversations with the teacher en espanol. I checked "El ingenioso hidalgo don Quixote" out of the library and read the whole thing, in Spanish, in one night." He rubs the back of his neck. "I met Kitty because I joined Stevie Hunter's dance class - I wanted to meet girls. We hit it off - small town, all the same hobbies. I met the New Mutants through Kitty, and I hit it off with them. Mostly. But I just thought of myself as the townie friend of a bunch of oddballs."

Warren Worthington has posed:
Warren Worthington nodded listening intently, "But its non transferable, you can't teach it right? Which was why you hesitated when I asked you to walk Kitty through your process. You just know, but you don't know why you know?" he proposed sipping his own glass of something posh, "But, if you could use your gift to augment someone elses process, like...YEAH like the language of process, you could optimize for others. So in that way, maybe there is a future where your power sort of extends and creates new understandings and efficiencies." he sipped again, "I know thats kind of a CEO's bend on something that might be sacred to you, at the very least personal, but I deal with economies of scale all the time. Little things make the world go round." he repeated. "Can you imagine, the language of process. I dunno, it could be a thing, what do you think?"

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
"It's - yes. All humans are incredible at pattern recognition and comprehension, and I just take that into - new vistas?" Doug gestures. "It's intuitive. I've supplemented it with real skills I've learned. I'm *really good* with computers even when I'm wearing a power inhibitor, I know, I've tested myself. But it's an intutive sense of how to read data and how to respond to it. For instance, I'm pretty good at martial arts, because I know intuitively *how* I should respond, and then I practice it- though I accepted a long time ago that if I end up on the front line of a fight something's gone really wrong." He thinks about what Warren's said, and then he says, "It's not really sacred, it's just *me*. I went through a very long stretch where I thought my powers were worthless, that *I* was worthless. I still have Black Dog days. I could walk Kitty through most of my steps, and I could teach her the cipher, no problem. But-" He frowns. "I never thought of teaching something of WHAT I can do. I always treated it like a Magic Eye puzzle. Sort of." He looks up at Warren, and then laces his fingers. "If I remember, you had those dark nights of the soul when you thought you were a useless member of the team, too. It seems to me you're actually pretty brilliant, Warren. If my opinion counts."

Warren Worthington has posed:
The Angel nodded along, adjusting his wings again unconsciously, the long silvery white limbs responding as if called to as Cipher spoke about them indirectly. "Imposter syndrome is very real, but its rooted in the tininess of our perspectives." he sipped and leaned slightly closer, adopting a sort of jocular and companionable posture.

"The only way out of it is to borrow the perspective of another. When you can inhabit, in a sense, another persons problems and situations, and then look at your own; you the sense that everyone worth knowing has some form of this. And when you see it, your just struck by how easy it would to get by in life if you just believed in yourself. Then, slowly, you start doing it. Not all the time, but enough. I think that's where I'm at, but lately I have been starting to understand that I am not really complete."

"Which leads to the natural search for the missing pieces of yourself in others. That's not to say I am defective, its to say I now know I have the capacity to be more, and I'm looking for it."

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug leans back. "I'm at the point where in order to be more for someone else, I want to be the best possible version of myself." He takes another slug out of that can of mineral water. "It's easy enough for me to understand what another person's feeling, or even pick up on what they're thinking based on subvocalized cues. Is this person lying, what are they really preparing to do, and so on, and so forth. That insight's not a complete doorway but it - creates empathy."

"It's ME that's the big mystery sometimes. I have days where I feel like I can speak every language in creation *except my own*." He gives a faint, self-aggrandizing smile.

"But, we're trying, huh?" He glances up at Warren, and says, flat-out, "And who're you looking for that missing piece of yourself in right now? Kitty? She's a great person. Little bit of greener pastures syndrome with men sometimes, but every man I've ever known who's ever fallen in love with her still is, at least a little bit." He takes another sip of water. "Bette Davis Eyes. That's the song that always makes me think of Kitty. You know - 'All the boys think she's a spy'?"

Warren Worthington has posed:
Warren Worthington went quiet now, still listening attentively but something in what the man said shut him up or shut him down. "Well you said it yourself. At least a little bit." he arched an eyebrow to Doug and return with a smile of his own. If he was holding something back he sure wasn't going to offer it up in this moment. "Well Doug, I think I gotta send you on your way soon, I hope you don't think me rude. I enjoyed every minute of this conversation, but its getting late. I'll message this week, get lunch somewhere if you're in town? I cant update you if I found anything good. See what it triggers in that brain of yours?"

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
"Not at all." He says, before he gets up. "I'm going to be out at my place up in New England decompressing for a while - sometimes I need to sort of reduce my human contact, dial down the input a little bit - but just let me know, I can have Magik or one of the other teleporters bring me back easily enough." He reaches up to offer Warren a handshake. "It was really nice to meet you for really-real, Warren. You're a great guy - and a fun conversationalist."

Warren Worthington has posed:
Warren shook, firm enough to show his sincerity "I really appreciate this Doug, and I really enjoyed talking to you. Listen if you don't want a fee then text me a charity you like this week and I will make a donation in your name." he lead Doug toward the elevator and in, holding the door open with his hand and pressing the lobby button for him. "Ha, silly me offering to send a chopper when you have Illyana around."

Douglas Ramsey has posed:
Doug packs up, puts his giant sweater back on, and heads for the elevator. "...I mean, I like helicopter rides as much as the next guy." He muses over that. "And maybe it would be nice to have a scenic view of the East Coast and not - you know - Hell? Hell-adjacent." He beams at Warren. "I'll send you a list of organizations that're working to preserve languages at risk of going extinct. Pick whichever ones you want."

Warren Worthington has posed:
Warren Worthington nodded in his commitment, "You got it. Safe travels to New England, Doug. Talk to you soon." and waves companionably as the doors closed him off from view. Somewhere about halfway through Doug's ride down the internal artery of the building, Warren exhaled and leaned against the wall, "That was close." he admitted, lifting his brow. He meandered back into the main concourse of the palatial penthouse.

"Alexa, play Betty Davis Eyes."