4889/Afterlife: There is no spoon

Afterlife: There is no spoon
Date of Scene:	26 January 2021
Location:	Afterlife
Synopsis:	Daisy gets another lesson from Jia on the nature of her powers and learns that daughter or not, there are rules that must be observed.
Cast of Characters:	Bobbi Morse, Daisy Johnson

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Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Jia is seated at a large wooden desk. The room looks like a combination receiving room slash office. Large windows look out at the mountains. There are book shelves filled with titles from all around the world and the rug has a distinctly medieval Chinese design to it. When you're lead in to the room, the two very large wooden doors are shut behind you.

    Jia looks up and smiles when she sees her daughter. She puts down the papers she was reading and rises, moving over to greet Daisy. "My darling, I hope you had a nice lunch. We're used to sharing our food with people who are confused about who they are now, their gifts, and what this place is. You're only one of those three. Though, I'd say you are a little confused about your gift."

    She wraps her arms about her daughter and gives her a warm hug. "I have been thinking a great deal about how best to unlock your full potential. I think the problem stems from your arms," she says somewhat cryptically.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
It had been as bittersweet as it got the last day here in Afterlife. First meeting her mother and all the happiness it brought.. Second, hearing the news from Matt and Bobbi on what they had uncovered. It had troubled her until she was again face-to-face with her mother, smile returning. There was hope there, the eternal optimist that Daisy was popping up, "I am hopeful we can get past those confusions though.." she says in an honest manner.

The hug is returned, a warm one, Daisy lingering there against her mother. "My arms? I hope the solution isn't turning them into stumps.." she is a bit nervous, which may explain the silly joke. But then she smiles embarassedly. "Sorry, too used to SHIELD and their outlandish solutions.." she shakes her head a bit to herself.. Focus, Daisy-san!

"But, more seriously, the theory has always been that my powers were focused and channeled through my hands and arms.." She explains.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Jia's eyes widen at the thought of Daisy losing her arms. She shakes her head, "No. I.. oh." She nods her head and it's quite clear she is perplexed by why Daisy's brain went there. "That is the problem," she nods her head, "You are mentally using your arms as a focus and emitting waves through them. A focus is a useful tool, but not when it becomes _the_ focus."

    She walks over to a table and sets out a wine glass, then pours some water in to it. "Your ego makes you believe that your power comes from within you, but the universe laughs at such assumptions. Everything has a resonant frequency, some are extremely complex - like people, some are very simple - like crystal," she says and approaches Daisy again with a long piece of silk ribbon in blue.

    "You must not force your will upon the universe, it will fight back. Instead, you must become one with the resonance - if you are one with it, then you can change it. Hands, please, behind your back... you must learn to feel the song and alter it without using your arms."

Daisy Johnson has posed:
Daisy could go and explain about her time with SHIELD, and all the weirdness, along with her own peculiar sense of humor.. But no need for that! Instead she focuses on listening, lips pursed together in thought. "That's how I have been doing in the past.." she confirms, about emitting waves through them. She looks down at her hands. "It's how I learned to .., keep it under control." expression downcast a moment, perhaps remembering those first times with her powers.

Eyes go to the ribbon, then up to her mother. A faint smile of trust is given and she nods, bringing her arms over her back to rest them there and waiting to have them tied up. "I have never felt so chastised about my ego. This is what it feels to have a mother, mmm?" but she is still smiling..

She takes in a long breath, looking at the glass and then back to Jia, "You seem to have a penchant for training, this is not the first time you have done this, is it?"

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Jia can't help but smile as she ties up Daisy's hands. Very loosely. With a bow. She walks back to her side and motions to the glass, then walks over to it and wets her finger tip, sliding it along the glass to make it sing. She steps away and says, "This is what it feels like to have my daughter back.. now focus on the vibrations from the glass. Let its feeling fill you up, don't force yourself upon it. Let it tell you about itself and then ask it to change."

    She knows this is a big ask of her daughter who has been brute forcing her powers through her arms, breaking the bones again and again, like she has some kind of computer character power. "No.. I have trained a lot of people to accept their gifts. It's been a while though and you are special."

    She rests a hand on Daisy's shoulder and looks to the glass, "Remember this is not about you, you are a drop of water in all of existence. Not some burning ember who must be the loudest to be heard."

Daisy Johnson has posed:
This wasn't the first time Daisy had attempted something similar. She had done something like this with Matt, when she had finally been able to play music atop that rooftop. It was a rather delicate way of using her power... And right now? She had little hope of achieving it without some more time.. But nothing like trying..

And granted, she felt it mostly through her arms and fingers so without them? Even harder. She continues taking in a few more long breaths until she eases her breathing and relaxes, clearly something she has trained in the past, eyes closing and she focusing on what is ahead of her. She remains still for a time, trying to listen, the distant echoes still but a memory on how she used to perceive the world around her ...

"I just ..., I was feeling it so loud when we met earlier but now ..." She sounds just a touch frustrated, clearly not wanting to let her mother down. And besides, she isn't exactly the most patient where it comes to things.. Those last words do calm her down though, not making it about herself, or her powers but instead on what she listens, finding serenity.

A vibration jolts the glass, making the water tremble just so.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Jia's eyes widen just a touch as the water trembles and she smiles. "You are flexing a new muscle you didn't even know you had. It will take time. It's a philosophical difficulty. You have been feeling vibrations inside you, then emitting counter vibrations out of you to meet the other, or amplifying them."

    She nods a few times clearly getting excited as her free hand has risen and fingertips twiddling in the air. "In modern physics, they talk about fields and oscillations in that field. Fields are infinite. You are touching the field Daisy, you do not have to push it out from yourself."

    She holds up her hand like a stop sign and then rests it to her chest, "Another way to consider this. Is it you moving the glass? or the water? or the air? or the earth? who is really doing the shaking? it is, not you. This is not about you, you are tapping in to something greater, vaster. The universal song is infinitely complex and it will take you a life time to understand composite constructions.. but one day, you will understand."

    She motions to the glass, "Again,... I chose the crystal because it wants to sing, you need only give it the smallest nudge."

Daisy Johnson has posed:
Daisy's expression turns to one of effort as her focus on the glass continues. She senses something, the vibrating glass, the song it wants to sing... It's easy to let go. Control doesn't seem to be that good yet though and indeed there seems to be a ways to go still. The crystal glass cracks down one side and Daisy recoils away from it as if she had been hit.. It's always been a lot easier to destroy than not for her...

She re-opens her eyes, looking at the crystal glass and letting out a sigh. "Clearly a ways to go still..." but she nods firmly, not the type to give up at a first hurdle, or at the last! She isn't the type to give up ever.

"But I think I understand it now. I am the player, not the instrument.." which seemed to be how she translated Jia's talk to her own terms. But then she looks up at Jia a touch embarassed, "I just need to learn to be gentler with my nudges.."

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Jia nods her head, "I understand now. Why you've been doing it the way you've been doing it. Fragile things break so easily when there's no control. As I said, it is a muscle that you need to strengthen. Somewhere in your mind. Don't worry about the glass, I have plenty more," she says with a smile, "It is easier to break yourself than to feel like you have broken something else. I do not wish my daughter to break herself anymore."

    She nods her head, "Yes, that is right. A unique instrument that only you play, which makes it much harder for anyone to teach you. I can only point you in the right direction. You need to listen more. I saw you scrunching up your face. You were trying to make it do what you wanted again. Hear what it wants, then sing with it."

    She grabs a rag and walks over to the table, the crack leaking water out slowly. She cleans it up and places the glass on to a strap as it breaks apart. "It's okay to use your eyes, your ears, your hands, even your feet.. as a way to target a thought, but not as a conduit for vibrations. Killing yourself is not a gift," she says with a kind smile, then walks back over to Daisy unties her wrists from the satin bow.

    "Is the guest house comfortable?," she enquires having never asked anyone else who has stayed there that question. "When you move here we will find you a nice home with a good view," she says planning for Daisy to forsake her old life and join her here forever.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"Good..." Daisy says about the crystal glass. "For a moment I thought I could be breaking your precious glass collection." her eyebrows arching a touch to show she is jesting. She does seem to be pleased right now, having been able to at least *touch* it again. Daisy gets a bit of a guilty face when Jia mentions the way she was scrunching up her face, "Old habits die hard.." she murmurs.

With her hands being untied she brings them to her front, folding them in a loose wrap about her waist, eyes following Jia now, "It's been good for us." a reminder that she isn't there alone, "Thank you for having let the others come along with me." she says with a gentle nod of her head, moving over to help with the glass. She pauses though when Jia suggests she was to move here, most likely in a more permanent basis. "I did not think.., you wanted me to move here.." her tone a touch anxious. Of forsaking her own life? Or perhaps looking forward to spending more time with her mother?

"There is still a lot I have to do out there, with SHIELD and ..., those that need me."

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Jia smiles a little more when Daisy jokes this time. She motions to a chair takes a seat opposite so they can sit and talk. She listens for a moment and says, "There are rules that must be followed here. Your boyfriend cannot stay. Just as I would not let Cal stay here either. But it would be nice to finally celebrate your birthday with you, even if it is a while away."

    "Of course I want you to live here. With me. This is our home, our birthright. We are safe here. You can learn to use your gift properly and in time, help others with theirs too. I know you like to help people.. but SHIELD is not safe. They lie. They are paranoid. They have too many enemies. You don't belong there."

    There's almost a bitterness to the way she talks of SHIELD, though it has been tempered by the actions of Bobbi Morse, Jemma Simmons, and Lance Hunter. Only the first of the three she acknowledge exists though. "You don't owe them anything," she adds.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"My .., birthday?" That takes her a bit by surprise, Daisy also moving to take one of the chairs to settle down. "Still a few months away as it's only in May." she explains with a faint grin even if soon enough it fades at Matt not being able to stay. Not that she thought he'd be allowed to, or even want to. "He is from a different world." she agrees, even if it's not *that* different than perhaps others here in Afterlife think.

"SHIELD protected me." She quietly says after listening to Jia, noting that bitterness on her tone. "When you were taken from me.., it was them that kept me protected. I thought they were hiding the truth, that they were responsible for what happened but they were the ones that kept me alive, hid me in the system so Hydra wouldn't catch up to me.." like they caught to Jiaying. "Yes, there were lies, or perhaps omissions of truth, but their intent was good. In time they have become family." her tone gentle but firm. She owes too much to SHIELD and it's people, they have become part of her.

"I owe them everything.." she counters, reaching to place one hand on her mother's. "But you sound .., what did they do to you?" she then asks.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    "May? Daisy, you were born on July 2nd, 1994." She stares off out the window for a moment and chuckles, "I remember it well. My water broke and Cal had to get help but didn't speak Mandarin." The whimsical smile ends and she looks back to Daisy. At the mention of HYDRA there is a subtle twitch from Jia and she adjusts how she is seated. The scars on her face are the outward presentation of what Whitehall did to her. How she was hurt in her mind is another matter entirely.

    Jia places another hand on top of Daisy and doesn't immediately answer. Instead, she tells a different story. "SHIELD, like everyone in the world out there. They think they are better than they are. There was an Inhuman.. she was impatient. She thought she knew better than the system we have set up here in Afterlife to keep us safe. She stole from us and left."

    She breaths in deeply, "Not every Inhuman is.. fit for their gift. We only allow those who are right for it to go through terragenesis. And she had a daughter who she demanded be given her gift. We said no, she forced it on her child regardless. She was too young to understand what she was going through and how the world worked."

    "We sent a team to collect the mother and child, we have ways of dealing with Inhumans who break our laws. But SHIELD got to her first. Instead of helping them.. they killed them. Both, dead, because instead of a gift they saw a monster. People might cheer your name now, but give them one reason and you will be their next monster and they will hunt you down and kill you too. How many Inhumans have been killed by SHIELD since you have been with them?"

Daisy Johnson has posed:
To have her actual birthdate confirmed by Jia has Daisy blink once, in surprise. There's still so much she doesn't know about herself, or her mother. But it's something she hopes she will be able to change. She squeezes Jia's hand, "July second ..." she murmurs, happiness shining in her eyes. She can imagine it, her father going around and waving wildly at the village people to try and call them over.

Yet as the talk shifts to Hydra and SHIELD her expression gets a touch more serious, "She stole .., terrigen crystals?" she questions, worried somewhat. If there were more still out there this wouldn't be a good thing. That she was killed though.., that has Daisy lower her gaze. Ashamed?

"I do not know of any Inhuman killed since I joined them.." even if she knew there were classified reports she didn't have access to, "But all I have learned, what we do.. Killing is always done as a last resort. When did that happen?" she asks. Perhaps she can search for it with some of her .., magic.., or even ask Bobbi.

Eyes do raise up to look at her mother again, thoughtful. "The world is changing, mother. Can we really stay here forever? Hidden? Hydra is out there, and they have an interest in us, even if Whitehall might be dead. What can we do to protect people here?" she asks.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Jia hadn't even considered that Daisy, all this time, didn't even know when she saw born. She tightens her lips in thought at what was taken from her - her baby growing up in to this young woman. "She did," she says not really going in to too much detail about them at this point.

    "2013," she says matter of factly. "These rules exist to protect us. You're.. a special case. Usually when someone is gifted in the wild we.. make sure they cannot hurt anyone." Or, they did.. when they had Jacob. Now they have Lash and Jacob is dead and apparently Bobbi is useless.

    A gentle pat on Daisy's hand she says, "I have seen the world change many times. It is always changing and the ignorance and hate of humans never changes. Never. Rest assured, you are safe here in Afterlife. No one can find us here. We only come and go using Gordon's gift."

Daisy Johnson has posed:
The part about making sure they can't hurt anyone has Daisy cant her head to the side, thoughtful. "How do you .., do that?" she asks about it. Does she really want to know? Yes, she does. She is part of shield afterall. And a spy at that. Finding info is her bread and butter. Even if the answers may hurt more deeply than she thought possible. "Choosing who can have our gift, or not.. Isn't that doing what you think SHIELD is doing? Believing to be better than them?" and while it hurts her to say those words Daisy was raised with quite the good notion of what's right or wrong, even if a lot of time it's painted with broad strokes.

"They found you last time.." She murmurs. "Hydra found you at that village. They don't stop, ever. We have been fighting them for a long time." She leaning forward, squeezing her mother's hand again. "We could join them in this. Find protection and also root them out once and for all." a pause and then she adds, "I fear for your safety. There is .., someone here in camp talking about it being unsafe, that we will be destroyed.." Reina, the manipulative one that has yet to have any of her 'visions' come true.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    "You don't need to know those details my darling daughter," she says and gives what she thinks is a reassuring smile. "There's a difference that you should respect. Self determination. Choosing our own destiny is the only way to live. Having others dictate it to us is slavery."

    There's a slight.. lack of patience in her eyes, when Daisy suggests SHIELD might get to choose the fate of Inhumans. This is her family after all. "It's true, they have found us when we have lived away from Afterlife. Many of us have made that mistake over the years. Time and again we have proven to ourselves that the world outside is not meant for us, not while humans wage war on themselves and anything different to themselves. They are broken."

    She shakes her head and gives Daisy's hand a squeeze, then lets go, "No." She says quite firmly, "Afterlife will not be joining the wars of humans. Enough of us have died already." It is a definite statement by a woman who expects to be heard and obeyed.

    She frowns a touch, "I see you have met Reina then." She lets out a sigh and says, "Like you, she came in to her gift outside of Afterlife. She has yet to understand the gravity of her gift or how to responsibly use it." She breaths out slowly as if Reina were a daily headache she has to deal with.. because she is. "But, given time, she will find peace inside herself."

Daisy Johnson has posed:
The refusal to give her answers for 'her own good' has Daisy's expression tighten a touch. Many have done that in the past afterall, including SHIELD. But to have it come from her own mother? It has her look away for a time, glancing out of a window. And while this sounds wrong, the way Jia and her people dictate how other Inhumans are to live this is a bridge she doesn't want to burn.. So she nods slowly, in a way that she heard her, even if she might not exactly agree with what is being said..

So instead she focuses on that last topic. Reina. "What if she is right though? What if those .., metal men she speaks of will come and destroy us?" she takes in a breath, and even with the tension she feels in the air the next words she speaks are very true. "I don't want to lose you again.." her face emotional now, her worry displayed there.

Within that strap where the pieces of crystal are they start to shudder and vibrate again even if unseen to their eyes now, a reaction at the mere thought that she'd be in danger of losing her mother again.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Jia can see she's not happy with being told no. She's not surprised, if she'd grown up with her things would be different. She nods her head, "Reina may well be right. Tomorrow, or three decades, or when we choose to have them come here so that they find only what we wish them to find. Prophecies are rarely exact on the how, just the.." she pauses as she sees the glass shards shaking and gently squeeze's Daisy's hand. "You won't," she says with the utmost confidence. "I'm not letting you out of my sight ever again," she says with a warm loving smile.

    "You're new here and even though you're my daughter, you still have to respect the way things are done here. People.. are unhappy that my daughter might get special treatment... is getting special treatment. Between you, Reina, and Bobbi..." She lets out a sigh, "Some people here feel the three of you have jumped the queue... politics."

    "Don't worry about these things, I will smooth it over with them. If someone is a little short with you, that might be why.." she furrows her eyebrows, wishing she could control all these issues. Afterlife is idealic, but not perfect. "You should go get some rest. Relax your mind, listen to the vibrations of the world and things around you. When you have enough control, we shall move on to water and fire."

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"Reina appears to believe there's an importance to us too. Me and Bobbi, and even Matt." Yet Daisy knows that kind of tone that shows she won't be getting much of a change in Jia's opinion today. So instead of arguing further she nods her agreement about training. That would be good. Taking her mind off things.. Or rather, putting her mind *on* things..

She gets up to her feet, a troubled look on her face, "Thank you, mother.." she says quietly. For the talk, for the training. She knows what she is thankful for.

Her hand rests on Jia's shoulder a moment and she starts on her way out. It's only then that she realizes it. Water and fire...? That's odd. But she isn't turning back.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Once Daisy is gone, Gordon appears. He shuts the doors and walks back to Jia. "She is obsessed with SHIELD," he says to her. Jia simply nods her head. "They will do something stupid soon and we will leverage it to show her the error of her ways," is her only statement on it.

    "What about the boyfriend," he asks Jia. "Let me sneak about all he wants. Just not in the catacombs," is her reply. "And Morse?," he asks. Jia frowns more, "Mark has made promises that I will hold him to. Whether or not she needs us, we need her. Our best leverage remains my daughter." He frowns, "You're taking a lot of risks..." and she holds up a hand to stop him, "the risks will be worth it."