5413/Afterlife: Listen to Me

Afterlife: Listen to Me
Date of Scene:	02 March 2021
Location:	Afterlife Settlement - Nepal
Synopsis:	Daisy comes spoiling for a difficult conversation and is initially taken off guard by how Jia responds to Daisy one on one, but when the conversation turns to SHIELD, Jia's defences go up.. until Daisy brings a mountain top down.
Cast of Characters:	Bobbi Morse, Daisy Johnson

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Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Afterlife is busy. They've had plans for this kind of situation sitting idly for decades but now they have to do it for real, families are a mess. Gordon has been transiting back and forth ever since the first group were ready to leave. Those that are staying are prepared to fight for their home. No one is sure if SHIELD is here to try and take them away, but who is going to leave that to chance?

    Mark knocks on the guest house door and then opens it, "Daisy? Did you still want to talk to your mother?" His head peeks in and then he himself steps in, "I think may be you can get a word in now if you hurry..."

    Jia sits behind her large desk in her study with books lining the walls. She's staring intently at nothing in particular. She knew this day would come eventually - they had tried so hard to keep Afterlife a secret from the world. But, it's inevitable.. and almost always betrayal from one of their own. Or a mistake. If Morse is to be believed, the mistake is Jia's this time.

    If someone didn't notice the slow scrape of her eyes over every imperfection on her desk top they might mistake her for composing herself. She should be doing just that - she's had some time to cool down a bit and become more clinic in her approach to this crisis.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
Waiting has never really been Daisy's style. She is a woman of action! And specially in this tense situation she is pretty much ready to start scaling walls, or just barge in. It's just what she is starting to do, "Okay, one way or another I am going in there and --" she is on her way to the door when Mark arrives saying she can go in. Well, good enough...

"Mark, thank you." And he gestures towards Elena, "This is a friend, also in SHIELD and one of us, can you keep her company while I go?" and then off she goes.

The door opens, traitorous daughter stepping in and closing the door behind her. She watches Jia quietly for a moment, "Mother." she says. Firmly.

"I am here for us to talk." She offers, making her way closer to the table.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Mark nods and smiles to Elena, "Of course. Happy to. Hi, I'm Mark." He says and joins her.

    Jia looks up and regards Daisy's entrance. Dramatic. She can't help but smile just a touch despite all that is going on. "You should come with me. Afterlife is no longer safe," she simply states and stands up from her seat.

    She turns to look out at the majestic white covered mountains in across the valley. A superb view from her place of work. "You can bring your boyfriend," she says making a consolidation. It appears he's been partly accepted. More so than a regular human. There are tolerances in Afterlife after all it seems.

    "We're making preparations to leave this place," she says. Her voice is soft and gentle for the moment. There's a sadness to it - she does not want to lose this place. "...you should too."

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"And where would it be safe?" Is the reply question, Daisy opening one hand to gesture to the surrounding room. "There comes a moment in which we must stop and accept not everyone out there is out to kill us. I found a family in SHIELD, and so did other Inhumans who joined us." she states, moving to join Jia near the window thatgives view to the mountains. She lets her eyes stray there, perhaps just a smidge tempted by that offer to go with her mother, with Matt. But no, she knows he'd never accept, and she has her responsibility.

"You know I can't do it." She shakes her head slowly, "Not after you made me realize I have a purpose, and that purpose isn't hiding away."

"You don't have to leave this place, there are other ways to solve this." She offers.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Jia puts an arm around Daisy as she is joined looking out at the mountains. She says, "You have some family in SHIELD. I understand that. But they don't understand how precarious life is for Inhumans. Bobbi brought SHIELD here ..somehow.. and she probably thought she was doing the right thing too. Everyone else always has ideas of what is right for us, but no one ever listens when we say no."

    She sighs softly, "The colonialist approach, their way is the right way. We have learnt to live this way, safely, over hundreds of years. Through trial and error.. and error means death. Many people have died to find the best way for Inhumans to live our lives peacefully. I know you think you understand what is going on here. I know you mean well.. but you're still just a child Daisy, you don't see the bigger picture."

    Jia seems tight lipped about where else they would go that is safe. She does seem sincere though, her heart rate not bounding ahead of herself. If Daisy came here looking for a fight, Jia apparently didn't get the memo.

    "I will be asking Bobbi to come with us too. And I understand another you brought here named Elena. All Inhumans are our family, none will ever be turned away." Not even Raina. There's one of her quills resting on the table top. It looks freshly shed from Raina. She was here and she no doubt didn't improve Jia's mood one little bit. "I don't want to lose you now that I've finally found you Daisy. They are not your real family, you should stay at my side and let me complete your training."

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"The world has changed, those concepts of colonialism..." Daisy shakes her head a bit, ".. They really have little place in our world anymore. What's true is that SHIELD is here, and they want to help." the arm around her is a good way to have her tone soften, to become gentler even if her words continue to flow out, "How many Inhumans are out there that we can't find because our resources are limited? You have -one- Gordon to help it but that's not enough.."

Head turns so her dark eyes can look up at Jiaying, "You have been fighting a losing battle for years now and you know it. Imagine what we could do with SHIELD resources, how many of our people we could save and bring together. I am one of them, I can make them listen to me."

Calling Daisy a child is perhaps not the best of ways to go about this. Her jaw tightens just so, heart rate spikes. She is quite sure about her place in the world now. "I have spent my entire life searching for you ..." was there a vibration rocking the place now? ".. with all I have had to do I have lost my childhood a long time ago. I know my path is the correct one."

Stubborn, just like mother.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    "Their world has only gotten worse. Mass media dictates to the masses what is and is not acceptable in their society and those that sway from the course are shut out from the wealth that they amass.. which too is a disgusting concept. They hate themselves and each other. So many Inhumans who come to us are broken inside. We spend much of our time teaching them to love themselves again, to love their gift.. and to love each other," Jia says, Daisy's first argument falling on deaf ears.

    "The only help Inhumans need from SHIELD is for them to leave us alone. You're advocating a foreign force to freely walk amongst us. We know what they do Daisy. They will record our powers and use us as weapons or science. Their media will elevate us in status to gods only to turn on us in their tabloids, the people hungry for a chance to cheer at our downfall."

    "That you think this is a battle tells me you have yet to open your eyes to how insidious their ways of thinking are. You must transcend their culture and embrace what it means to be Inhuman, before you are ready to offer pathways for our people," she says with a harsh clip to her tone.. but also strangely suggesting that somehow Daisy might have a role like that in her future. "Your path brought you back to me.. now, that should tell you everything you need to know, that you should pay attention. I will never steer you wrong my love," Jia insists.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
"You continue talking about generics, about this concept of 'they', and how they are so powerful and greedy, how society is so wrong but I am here talking about real lives on the line. I am not here to debate the wrongs of society, I know how rotten it is, I see it every day in my missions with SHIELD how rotten society can be." Daisy then making a sharp gesture with her hand, "SHIELD is *not* part of the problem though, they are part of the solution. Elena is proof of that, we found her, and we trained together until we could understand and use our gifts."

Tone appears to be growing in intensity now, the shake isn't just imaginary but real even if Daisy doesn't notice it, "Afterlife was nowhere to be seen when we needed help. When those we should find and protect died or were imprisoned because there was noone to help them. Even you were captured, and taken from *me*." as she ends the sentence there is a sound from the mountains, some of the snow there shaking off and starting to roll down the mountain. Very harmless still for the settlement of course. It's in the distance.

"I have my eyes wide open, mother. I prefer not to lose myself in idealism instead of facing reality. You are shunning yourself here when we have a job to do out there. Helping our people." tears stinging at her eyes. "Talk to them, listen. I know they want to become allies, not colonialize us but truly help our cause."

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    Between the tears and not even noticing the shaking she's causing, or perhaps even the mountain that has responded to her emotional pleas... a ringing begins to build in Daisy's mind. Not her ears, not her bones, but deep within her, within that song of the universe she has been learning to touch.

    Like a bronze singing bowl, it harmonises beautifully with the quake she has sent out, a call and response. And it is _that_ way.. far off, but definitely _that_ way. And just as quickly, the hum of the singing bowl disappears when Jia places a hand firmly on Daisy's shoulder.

    The snow topples down the mountain side as Jia watches, feeling the room shake and some of her books fall from their shelves. "Daisy!," she says sharply and turns to look at her teary eyed daughter. Her face reflects a myriad of emotions and eventually she simply wraps her arms about her daughter and holds her close.

    "Okay," is all she says to her. No speeches this time. What harm can a sit down with SHIELD truly do at this point. If it goes badly, they stick with plan A. If it goes differently.. well.. perhaps she is once again leading people to slaughter.

Daisy Johnson has posed:
So easy to let herself go, to let those emotions take hold and Daisy to harmonize herself fully with that ringing. It is building, growing until that hand is felt on her shoulder. It brings her back to reality, she blinking once perhaps unaware of the shaking that was caused about her.

She nearly stumbles as if she was deflating, air leaving her after that exertion, and specially after Jiaying agrees to talking with SHIELD. She lets her tears flow freely now, damping Jia's clothing and letting herself be cradled in that warm embrace.

"We will make this work." She murmurs, "Together.."

But now there was one last hurdle to go past. To make sure the negotiations went well.

Bobbi Morse has posed:
    The boom of the mountain finally reaches Afterlife. Like a clap of thunder to match the visuals of the snow falling. It too rattles windows and will be noticed be all in the area. These things happen naturally all the time when the sun rises and sets, warming and cooling the snow and ice until weight and structure give way to gravity.

    Jia smiles with concern. She is just like her daughter.. stubborn, but then driven by emotion when it gets too much. And now she has foolishly agreed to Daisy's plea to talk with SHIELD. Raina was right.. again. She shuts her eyes. Raina's warning was clear. Death is coming. The metal men are coming.

    "Well.. I can't make any promises about how it will go with SHIELD, but I will listen to what they have to say," she says softly. Her daughter's gift is powerful and untempered. She unclogged the tap, no doubt Daisy will have to break bad habits for years to come - but she certainly seems more in tune with her abilities than when she first arrived.

    Jia rests her chin atop Daisy's head thinking of the trouble coming their way. Cal was never a weakness, he was an indulgence. But Daisy.. Daisy is a weakness. As long lived as she is, she never contemplated a child. Now she has finally met hers she cannot imagine a world without her.