3521/A Visitor in the Dark

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A Visitor in the Dark
Date of Scene: 23 September 2020
Location: Janet's Cell, Red Room Facility, Siberia
Synopsis: Janet gets a surprise visitor in the night, but can she really trust her?
Cast of Characters: Nadia Pym-van Dyne, Janet van Dyne




Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
When you're deprived of any contact with sunlight for an extended period of time, day and night lose all meaning. It is really quite hard to say how long Janet has been in here, days? Weeks? There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to the length of the periods of light and darkness in Janet's cell as they deliberately break down her sense of the passage of time itself.

It is against this backdrop during an extended period of darkness that the realization comes, Janet is not alone in her cell. Standing there inside that same sliding side door, with that remote control looking clicky device in hand, is Ying.

Janet van Dyne has posed:
There's a moment of disorientation as Janet rouses herself. The Red Room's been trying hard to make her crack-- there are fresh contusions on her arms and face and signs of IVs being used repeatedly on her. Their persuasive efforts seem to have failed thus far. Whether that's due to some inner reserve of pluck, Natasha's counter-espionage tutelage, or just being the kind of girl used to operating in an adverse psychological environment, it doesn't seem to be hitting Janet terribly hard.

Then again, the point isn't to hurt Janet. It's to hurt Nadia.

"Oh look. The bitch is back," Janet remarks to the empty air. "Here I was hoping for a moment you'd wised up and decided to help your friend out. 's cool; let's get to it. What'll it be today? Ice baths? Or are you going to lecture me to death again?"

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Ying just watches Janet for a moment. Her expression lacks the zeal, sadism, or even just stone faced neutrality Janet's usual handlers have. If anything it is the expression of someone who has already accepted their own death. "It was good to see that Nadia has made so many friends that care about her. I gave them what they need. I imagine they'll be here soon, once they've figured out a plan. There's still work to do though, assuming you want to get her out of there."

Janet van Dyne has posed:
Janet's brows lift, and she purses her lips with a slow nod. "Sure. I mean, it's only been what, a week we've been here? Two weeks?" she guesses. "Is this part of the Red Room psyops handbook? 'Stage fake rescue, watch captive hopes get crushed?'" Her tone mimics a stentorian Russian male, with their rigid Slavic pronounciation.

"It's either that or it's a trap for my friends. The Avengers don't get 'trapped'. And I don't like the idea of being bait." Her eyes harden with a forceful, barely constrained fury.

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
"That's good." Ying nods as she watches Janet's response, "You shouldn't trust anything in here. This place is made of lies. And why should I help you?" She pushes her hair aside showing the red light on the back of her neck at the base of her skull. "It makes no sense really, if they discover any of this I die in the blink of an eye. It's really really stupid."

She continues to watch Janet, "I met your friends the Avengers when I activated Nadia's Quantum Beacons. Her Dad, I'm glad she finally found him, she always talked about him so much, Scarlet Witch, even Supergirl turned up. Now if we do nothing it won't work, they'll never make it to where Nadia is, but you might be able to. Of course getting out is another story, which is where your friends come in. Nothing works without the other but together, she just might get out of here."

Janet van Dyne has posed:
Janet's eyes narrow imperceptibly at Ying. In a world where superficial people live and die by the bleeding edge of half-truths, she's a difficult person to con with a true dirty tale.

"I'm not telling you how they'll attack. Or from which direction."

Her gaze flickers to the remote in Ying's hands, then she uplifts her chin at the girl. "What's that remote control for? Does it open my cell, or something?"

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Ying rolls her eyes proving she is in fact still a teenager, "I am not asking you to tell me anything. I have a pretty good idea how they'll attack already given the holographic schematics to this facility I gave them. If they're smart anyway and they seemed smart."

At Janet's question she glances at the device in her hand, "Oh this? No, this is something Nadia and I made when we were still Lab Partners, it can temporarily disrupt and loup their surveillance in a localized area. It's why my head hasn't already exploded all over the walls of this cell."

Janet van Dyne has posed:
"Then what I need is fresh air." Janet looks pointedly at Ying, then leans forward just a bit with her hands on the bed. "Not much. I just need a lot of airflow *through* my cell. It doesn't have to be indefinite but the more, the better."

"You're also going to need to take some precautions. I'm assuming that this thing--" Janet wiggles a finger at the back of her neck, then points at Ying-- "is one of those cortical bombs. I'm gonna guess Nadia has one, too."

"You'll need to disarm those. If you can neutralize whatever's suppressing my implants, do it. We're all real low and in a lot of pain, so we need paracemetol and modafinil, or some kind of amphetamine substitute. Make sure the doses are correct and work them into our food or water beforehand."

"Nadia and I can do the bulk of the heavy lifting if we can just get out of the prison block and into the general superstructure. But we -have to have- our Pym particles back. Can you do it?"

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Ying holds up a hand and shakes her head, "Slow down and listen please. Nadia isn't in this part of the facility. She's been secluded in her own area in the deepest parts of the complex with maximum security and it's own dedicated elevator leading down to it. I am not allowed anywhere near it or I would go myself." There is frustration at that.

"Disarming the explosives isn't possible," she continues, "Or I would have done it already. Hopefully Nadia hasn't been fitted with one yet, it is a delicate and time consuming procedure, particularly if you don't want to accidentally lobotomize the recipient. If she has... well your friends seemed to have ideas on how to remove mine." And yet she still has it.

"What I can do is get you drugs and I can restore your Pym Particles. I'm the one who created the device they used to disable them."

Janet van Dyne has posed:
Janet's lips press into a thin line at THAT revelation. "You and I are going to have to have a talk after this settles," she informs Ying.

The socialite sighs. "Okay. Then we need to stage some kind of diversion and get Nadia *before* the assault teams arrive. 'Mother's' first response is going to be to lock Nadia down with armed security. So we need to be in place and able to extricate her before that happens."

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Ying reaches into her pocket and pulls out what appear to be two small auto-injectors full of a yellow-ish liquid, "If you inject this into your carotid artery, it will de-aggravate your Pym Particles and restore their regular function. There is one for you and one for Nadia." She sets them down on the floor and rolls them towards Janet.

"I've read your file, you're the only one who might be able to get down there. I will create a diversion. You'll know it when it happens." A pause, "Don't worry, you'll never have to see me again." She adds before turning towards the door she entered from.

Janet van Dyne has posed:
"Wait." Janet gets to her feet and walks towards Ying, stopping just outside of arms' reach. Palms slide against each other in a slow sussurance, and her jaw works left and right while she looks Ying over.

"Listen, you fucked up bad," she says quite bluntly. "But what you're doing here, for Nadia-- that's not making it right. That's just trying to cancel out your guilt. You really wanna make it up to Nadia?"

She doesn't wait for a response. "Then you gotta *survive* and pull out with us when we head back stateside. Nadia's going to go home with bad memories of this place again. Nightmares and manic fits. If she's got someone there to help her get through that-- I think that's the sort of thing that a *friend* would do."

Hands spread, and Janet backs up a pace. "I'm the last person who should talk about a conscience, but I think yours needs a kick in the ass still."

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Ying pauses in the doorway, "Really, it's amazing I've lived this long. This is the Red Room, it's not if I get caught, it's when. Don't get the wrong idea, I'm not trying to die. Escaping is a nice thought, I'm just not terribly optimistic I'll live to see it. When it comes down to it, if only one of us is getting out, I want it to be Nadia." And with that she steps out into the hall and the door slides shut behind her.