19265/The Resurrection of Quentin Quire, pt 3

The Resurrection of Quentin Quire, pt 3
Date of Scene:	11 October 2024
Location:	The Astral Plane
Synopsis:	Our intrepid investigators discovered Quentin's hiding spot on the Astral Plane and found that he's trapped in a horrible cycle of death and rebirth in the real world, trapped in a lab somewhere. They leave after giving him renewed hope, and he gives them a psychic beacon to follow...
Cast of Characters:	Quentin Quire, Emma Frost, Tabitha Smith, Bishop

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Quentin Quire has posed:
When we last left our intrepid investigators, they had made they way deep into the Astral Plane, through the remnants of someone's horrific nightmare, finally coming across what Rien projected as an idyllic ski cabin on the bank of some snowy mountain somewhere. Opting to hold the line outside, she remained behind as the others moved to enter the "ski lodge" to investigate further.
What they walked into was anything but an idyllic little lodge, or even a cabin. Looking more like the hallway down into a dungeon, impressions of pain and suffering as they proceeded, the walls finally giving way to emptiness sketched out by vague outlines of space. Space, and tubes. Tall, enclosed tubes. Ghostly impressions of tubes and machines and all the other paraphenalia that one would expect to find in a mad scientist's laboratory.
But still no Quentin, although it seems like he's been here from the echoing screams clawing at the edge of sensation.

Emma Frost has posed:
This is lovely, and rather quaint. Emma would almost call it 'sweet' if such a term fit within Quire's psychology. "Ms. Smith, please do take the lead here as you're more fluent in the mindscape of Mister Quire than I am." And probably closer to him as well. And Quire would hopefully respond better to someone that was a friend coming in to check.

Then entering on in to the place of experimentation, of violence, and brutality of all those things. Emma's mind twisting to familiar setups. Test tubes. Drugs. Kidnapping. Pain. Salvation.

"We'd best keep moving. Quickly."

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Once it was clear that it was the psychic signature of Quentin Quire they'd found. Tabby had sent word back to the school, while she and Bishop had jumped to the Astral plane via assistance from Rien.

Thankfully it has resulted in a far more experienced psychic such as Emma making her arrival.

While back in the meat space, the locals were still being herded abourt by Storm and Cannonball.

"Okay, so remember when Monet's asshole brother tried to wreck our crap and it led to Elixir nearly killing me and I had to jump to the Astral Plane. Well, Quire kinda tried the same thing when Sentinels messed his day up. But I don't think he got out all the way. So he's kinda haunting the place and his Astral self is kinda messed up. Angry scared ghost type stuff." she explains actually sounding a little more serious than normal.

Bishop has posed:
Emma's arrival is....well...it's better then Rien, no offense to her. While Bishop was willing to give the newcomer some benefit of the doubt her abrasiveness and presumptions on the situation coupled with her over confidence was not sitting well with him and causing him to have second thoughts. Another telepath of a much stronger order then Tabitha and versed in the matter of the astral plane is..preferrable to that.

So all that being said, even with his own capability to absorb psionic energy firing off due to the very nature of the place they are in....he's content to let the others take teh lead though he does frown and look around as he nots the location they are in.

"I would say, that he needs to be presented with something familiar to set him at ease and to calm him." he suggests, "Our prior companion was troublesome but not wrong in the assertion that if we're too aggressive or defensive it might set him off. This will require a combo of confidence and empathy."

Quentin Quire has posed:
Whatever trip Quentin has been on, it doesn't look to have been a pleasant one. May be an explanation to why he's playing the role of angry scared poltergeist in this little drama. If the group continues on through the seemingly endless rows and rows of huge biological specimen tubes, they seem to fill with apparitions, semi-solid astral forms of bodies in various stages of growth. And various stages of decay. Whatever mad scientist's mind this lab sprung from, he (or she) did not take care of their experiments.
They flicker like afterimages in a badly corrupted video, but some could be discerned to be Quentin at various stages of life and death. Someone's been busy, it seems, mucking about with Quentin's genetics somewhere in the real world. Enough to tether his astral self after a fashion.
The form in one of the tubes grows a bit more solid than the rest, decaying fists pounding at the inside of the tube as the body thrashes about, mouth wide in a silent scream, blind eyes wide as it struggles. Struggling like a drowning man going for that last gasp of air before the darkness takes it again.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would sigh over, "Very well. This astral realm and his fragment is dangerous. Here makes him unstable. He's paranoid and he will be going tooth and claw figuratively. Who would you say that he's on best terms with, best friends with at the Mansion?" Emma doesn't know him particularly well, after all. Emma goes to glance forwards as she takes in the mental assemblage.

First she goes to try and put up 'blocks' along the astral realm. In effect if she can trying to prop it up and stabilize it. This is Quentin's mental space, he has influence and power here.. But Emma can hopefully make it a bit stabler and less prone to collapse on them if things escalate.

"What things does he wish for and what does he want?"

Tabitha Smith has posed:
Boom-Boom at least can follow that psychic signature. "This crap reminds me of one of Sinister's labs. Not a fun time that. But a clone body would really be handy now." she laments as she looks around the current surrounds and all the tubes.

Emma's query gets a shrug and a hand waggle. "I dunno, what can you say about a guy that thinks slingshot mankinis are a good idea?" she answers.

"Don't really know who knew him best, let alone who he liked to hang out. But I figure what he wants, what he really, really wants. Is to have his own meat suit back and not be a mangled mess. I figure we get closer to him, we can probably calm him easy enough, play up his ego. Couple hot stacked blondes should be able to do that easy enough." Tabitha points out.

Bishop has posed:
"We dont' have time for that and if you're thinking of trying to trick an omega level psychic within the astral plane while in a maddened state that sounds like a bad idea." growls BIshoip.

"The Professor would be able to manage this he's not here so it's just us. Comrades, his heroic impulsees. His pride in his powers. His willingness to put himself at risk to help others. To fight Sentinels and our mutual feelings of pride in who and what we are. These are the things we should try and reach him with. Our desire to help him find peace. We should project these feelings to calm him and get him to trust us, not trick him with illusions."

He looks to the tubes and peers closely, trying to see if it looks familiar. "..Is....what is this he's showing us? Is this him?"

Quentin Quire has posed:
The scenario plays itself out repeatedly as the trio discusses the best way to get through to the trapped Omega. Tube after tube after tube fills with the image of QUentin at some stage of life and/or death; infant, toddler, child, tween, teen, young adult, old adult, withered husk of a man, and various stages in between.
In turn, each one looks to wake up and then drown in its own tube. Some go slowly, others hang on for what seems like forever. But inevitably every one wakes and dies.
Until at the end of the row, comes the twisted and deformed mental image that Tabby is familiar with. Quentin, gaunt, skeletal, and misshapen, crouched between two tubes, too-long arms held over his ill-shapen head as he screams and wails.

Emma Frost has posed:
This is morbidly fascinating. And Emma is getting a great many familiar cues from it. Emma goes to take a guess here on things, and takes a breath.. She would turn to Bishop. "He'll open up more to those that he has attentions for." Whether or not they're returned. Emma refrains herself from lecturing Bishop on the -proper- use of 'Omega' and 'Alpha'. now is not the time to get technical.

To the terrified Quentin, she goes to speak softly, "WE're here to take you home."

Tabitha Smith has posed:
"You've looked better. We can totally help with that too. Get ya back to your normal." Tabby states and while she is in the astral plane, the energy and power normally going towards Plasma is more easily able to be channeled to her telepathy.

Though her lack of relative experience still shows. At least the image of Quentin in a less mangled way looks okay. Even if Tabby is deliberately touching up the psychic image like she might hide a pimple in a selfie via photoshop. So it's prettier than normal, but still clearly Quentin Quire.

Bishop has posed:
Bishop would welcome that discussion and clarity. Miss Frost is not beyond being educated after all but ..it is indeed not the time as mere moments ago Tabitha and Bishop had to engage in that conversation with another uppity blonde.

No, no, more important is Quentin and Bishop's gaze is drawn to the condition of his comrade. Concern and a need to help this situation be resolved doesn't need to be feigned or projected. Quentin's poor state is enough to pull on the future-soldier's empathy and worry.

The telepaths need to take the lead though so he just hangs back and watches, looking on but also making sure his stance isn't aggressive or threatening.

Quentin Quire has posed:
"No, no, no, let it end, let me diiiiie...." the scarecrow-like projection of Quentin pleads in a harsh, raspy voice. Peering up at the trio through the fence of those too-long arms. The face they see is misshapen, also just 'too' long, mouth too wide, eyes wild in sunken sockets.
The crouching figure scoots backwards away from Emma and Tabby, shaking its head, the shock of pink hair still shaved into a mohawk but wild and unkempt; the shorn hair revealing surgical scars along the skull, hastily stapled back together. "Noooo, it's gonna start soooooon...." it pleads, looking up at the astral projections of the specimen tubes "...why couldn't he just kill the power, let me diiiiie....."
Fiction often speculates as to what it'd be like to be immortal and trapped in a box. The vampire driven mad locked in its own coffin. The immortal, condemned to an existence of rebirth, starvation or suffocation, death, and then the cycle begins anew. It seems someone has tapped into that technologically, after a fashion. And somehow condemned Quentin to this unique circle of Hell.
Still shaking its head and wailing, it looks up at Tabby with something uncharacteristic for Quentin; pleading in his eyes. "Ennnnnd iiiiiiit..."

Emma Frost has posed:
Oh, this maudlin bit. Emma goes to sigh over and tries to think of the best way she can think of to prop him up and over -without- her normal level of belittling level of things. She moves to glance over at things, and she tries to think of how to best turn this over to firm the boy's resolve. She's not his friend, nor his teacher. He likely doesn't respect her at all.

"If you surrender, then they win. If you give in, then they've broken you. If you submit to the pain, then they've won. You're not going to let them declare victory over you. You're not going to let them showcase their superiority. You're not going to let them defeat you. If you submit, then they're right."

This is always a tricky way to thread the needle. Emma cannot appeal to him personally. Bishop is right in that when the situation is this desperate they cannot put up an illusion. Emma cannot go on about how his friends want him back, his family does. That would all ring false in his emotional desperation. She cannot appeal to logic, not to anger, not to rage..

So she tries to appeal to that thing that is strongest of all at the worst of times.

Spite.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
"Yeah, you gonna put up with their crap? You're too powerful for that." Tabby points out. As someone who's run way too many cons in her life, she knows that getting someone to do what you want is often to play to the targets self esteem.

In this case, it's actually for Quentin's benefit. "Hell. I've been where you are." she sends him some of her own memories of her own Astral noping out.

"Coming back with us should be no problem. That's where it'll end. You, home with us." the tone is reassuring.

Quentin Quire has posed:
That's certainly one thread to pull when it comes to Quentin Quire. Those eyes are still wide, even as the gaunt apparition fades and the cycle begins again. It's a different order than before in terms of which shell revives first, but they all still end the same way; trapped and drowning.
Even if this time the struggle seems to be more focused, more determined, like their words are starting to get through to the condemed mutant.
The process seems to start and sputter erratically; one shell revives only to drown in its tube, then another, and a different one. Like a car's engine trying to turn over but sputtering out before it can kick over.
This can't be deliberate, can it?
As the cycle ends and the skeletal Quire reappears, still crouched at the end of the rows, that misformed head shakes, hair flopping about. "Can't... too weak... can't break tubes...."

Bishop has posed:
The thought of interferring with the tubes had crossed Bishop's mind but he wanted to defer to the telepaths first. When Quentin speaks again, Bishop nods his head.

"Sometimes, we all need a little bit of an extra push.." he concludes aloud before turning towards the nearest tubes. They are there. They can interact with the space.

"We should assist him. Give him the strength he needs. That extra push.."

He steps forward for one of the tubes unless stopped and reaches a hand up to lay it on there. If it is raw astral energy, his own abilities to absorb should kick in and begin to fuel his strength. "Shall we?"

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would close her eyes and for a moment, "youa re as strong as you want to be. Your strength in this realm is as much as you want. Here, you make the rules, Quentin. You are at your strongest here. Nothing can stop you in your mind." Emma goes to take a few steps forwards - but she leaves this to Bishop to fully break through them. This is not a teaching moment, however, that she restrains herself.

The astral plane is a focus of belief. They are not hostile. Quentin has to believe them and to empower himself. And Bishop hitting the tube will make far more of an impression and be far more reassuring.

Tabitha Smith has posed:
"Break the tubes?" Tabby grins at Quire, then at the others before she aims a hand at the tubes in question and the machinery they're built into.

"We can give it a crack. But remember, the tubes couldn't break you. You still with us." More of the positivity from Tabby while she sends 'Bombs' away to pop and crack at anything that seems glass.

"When they break, reach in and grab your bits. Once you got 'em all, we'll bounce and let this hole blow up!" she encourages as she gets her property damage on.

Quentin Quire has posed:
The poltergeist gives another shake of the head even as everyone starts to focus their attention on the tubes. "Noo.... no.. dammit...." he clutches at the dies of his head, fingers just as freakishly long as the rest of him in this state. "..don't...understand...." another shake of the head.
The cycle begins again as Bishop and Tabby try to attack the tubes, bodies reviving and dying. The skeletal Quentin doesn't fade out completely, but he looks to be in pain as he fights against whatever is happening.
The attacks shatter the tubes, fluids and bodies splashing freely, but then just as quickly there's a flicker and the tubes and bodies are back the way they were.
"...not just... a projection...." Quentin growls as he solidifies again "...trapped... in the real...."

Bishop has posed:
"Wait..."

Bishoip pauses as Quentin makes that statement and the tubes reform. Have they had this all wrong?

"From the beginning could we have been going about this the wrong way. Is it possible Quentin's already...reformed? This isn't just a panicked astral form. This is a psychic S.O.S...."

Bishoip backs away and looks around the projection, searching for signs of anything that could give a clue as to the location. Any famliar echoes that has been missed.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma Frost would close her eyes, "Then we can track where his astral location is. I can't do it this way, but with Cerebro.." She would pause. "We'll go down there shortly and we can track where you are. Quentin, we -will- be coming for you. Wait for us. You're not alone. We will find you, the ones that have done this to you will pay. And you will make them suffer."

Bishop has posed:
"We're-at- the Sentinel Factory though...that's where Quentin's astral form manifested and where we opened up a portal tot he Astral Plane." notes Bishop, "Surely there's some connection there. There was a forest and then a winter landscape and then finally the cabin where he was being housed. Those could be signals and signs as to the potential location. Stlll in Canada perhaps..."

Ther's a frown again as Bishoip narrows his eyes, searching his mind for possiblties,. "...Weapon X?"

Quentin Quire has posed:
The former Sentinel Factory has been picked clean, that much was made certain of in the aftermath of that disastrous raid. No more than emergency lighting, and even then that was dying. Wherever Austin is, it's not there.
What would Sentinels want with Quentin Quire clones though, anyway. Mutants never mixed well with the Prime Sentinel nanites. Weapon X is slightly more plausible, but even at their worse they'd never do something like this, would they? Seems to be so much waste of a significant portion of their country's gross domestic product.
"Not alone.... will hold on...." Quentin nods, seeming to relax into the process again as the poltergiest fades away and the cycle continues. How many cycles has he endured? How many times has he already died? How many more times can he die before he loses his impressive omega mind?
As the cycle continues there's something different though. There's no struggling as each shell revives. Eyes and mouth open and the bodies shake, but there's no struggle against the unbreakable walls of the tube. There's just a pulsing scream on the edge of psychic hearing.
Like a beacon.