6673/Ground Control to Major Tom

Ground Control to Major Tom
Date of Scene:	23 June 2021
Location:	Central Nexus
Synopsis:	Blink and Speed discuss a little bit of their pasts and the possibility of revenge. Milkshakes and brownies were harmed in the making of this scene.
Cast of Characters:	Tommy Shepherd, Clarice Ferguson

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Tommy Shepherd has posed:
Tommy enters the central Nexus having just completed a session of zero g training on a section of the station that doesn't keep one's feet planted firmly on the deck. The white haired man looks pensive as a result before he darts to a few different cafeteria sections and appears abruptly at a table with a tray including a variety of high calorie options including one large milk shake.

Slurping through a straw, he sits with his elbow on the table, palm planted against his cheek as he stares out a window into space. Occasionally, his brow knits or a low hum rumbles in his chest, one thought perking his interest and leading to another. He pauses in his shake consumption to grab a french fry, dip it in a mix of condiments, and slip it between his lips.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice had been in the middle of fetching her own meal - pasta with a chicken alfredo sauce, a side of broccoli, and a brownie for dessert. She pauses - watching Tommy zip around the cafeteria with a curious and appraising expression, before approaching the drink dispensor. She claims a cup of coffee - then makes her way towards Tommy's table, sitting without invitation.
    "Hey," she greets the man - reaching uninvited for a fry.

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
Tommy doesn't defend the fries, because they are free, and he can literally grab another tray full if he ever needed to. He looks upwards toward Clarice with his eerily 'royal eyes'. His physical likeness to that of Magneto and Pietro is almost a gag now. An unanswered inside joke. He up-nods to her and sets his milkshake down.

"You... Probably have zero-problem in zero-g, I bet." He hums and stares at her then grabs another fry, using it as a pointer. "Fact, you probably have a big advantage in it."

He frowns a little bit. "As neat as floating around is... It doesn't mix well with my powers unless I'm surrounded by air."

The start of the conversation is abrupt, but it clearly signals what was on his mind. "Totally unfair.."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "I haven't really //had// to use my powers in zero g," Clarice muses - as she ponders the possibilities - and munches on the fry. "But I mean - yeah. I could just get where I need to go. And it wouldn't interfere with throwing my javelins, so..." She offers a shrug of her shoulders. "I suppose I might have to practice my aim, without gravity in play," she muses thoughtfully while twirling some pasta on her fork.
    "Still. It'd be boring if we all had the same talents. And figuring out how to use them - how they solve the problems that we're presented with... //That's// the trick, right?"

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
Tommy nods. "Yea, they've all got their advantages and disadvantages. Not all are equal, but starting to think in the right circumstances, almost any power might have a major advantage."

He leans back, tucking his boots under the table to support him as he laces his hands behind his head. "Use to think I was unstoppable. No one could keep up long as I was free and not constrained by some random doo-dad. The Brotherhood is changing that perspective. Kind of shocking."

Sitting back up, he devours a wrap in super speed time, finishing with a wipe of his mouth via napkin. "You probably outta try out some zero g training considering where we are."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "...probably," Clarice admits. She nibbles on some of her pasta before adding, "I met a girl - whose body is made of bugs," she muses. "And apparently, as long as just a single one survives, she can call more bugs to herself and heal. Weird power." But interesting. She'd been putting a lot of thought into Dyani, and her powers - and the girl's future and wellbeing.
    "It's amazing how diverse mutant powers can be, really."

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
"Huh.. I wonder how far apart the bugs can be. Could she like... always keep a few really far apart? She'd be basically immortal then. Does she seem like one mind or hundreds of little ones to telepaths? Ugh, lot of questions there." Tommy nods.

His phone buzzes in a hidden pocket, unzipping it, he pulls it out and frowns, then types out a message, speaking as he puts on the words on the screen. "Not coming in. I quit. Make your own burgers."

Setting the phone on the table, he murmurs. "Why did have a normal job seem so cool at the time?"

Returning to the conversation, "Bet she's good at infiltration. Bugs are hard to stop."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "She says they can only be apart from her for two hours," Clarice remarks. "But as long as she always keeps a few apart... Sends a few off, just before bringing the others back..." She shrugs her shoulders. "I don't see why not. Certainly she doesn't have to worry about Mister Creed as much as most others." He'd have a very difficult time squishing that many bugs.
    "Havely really considered or explored the telepath angle," she muses thoughtfully, before taking another bite of her food.
    "Anyways. It isn't the time to explore her powers or push the kid too far, anyways. She's been through a rough patch. She needs time to recover. She's a real nice kid, though. And yeah, spying and infiltration very much seems to be part of her thing.
    "...did you just quit your job?"

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
Tommy nods along then shrugs at her question. "Yea, got a dose of reality. You spend a decade in a prison, you start getting a really... skewed perspective of what normal life might be like. I thought doing normal things like having a 'job' would scratch some kind of itch. It did for like... the first week. Now it just feels."

He shrugs again and searches for the right word, "Uh.. beneath me? Not like the people doing the work are bad, but there's just better ways for me to spend my time, y'know? Probably better to quit before I get fired anyway. Some people were having 'accidents'" He makes air quotes with his fingers, "After they said one or more bullshit remark about mutants."

His straw goes dry as his milkshake is emptied, "Wasn't a bad way to meet some cute people though."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Yeah, well, fuck the biggots," Clarice remarks casual. Honestly, that was a //mild// point of view in Brotherhood circles.
    "What'd you spend a decade in prison for, though?" He was still pretty much a kid - wasn't he? He'd've been tiny when he was put in. "America's fucked up," she mutters. I mean - not as bad as Genosha, but- It's not a contest.
    She contines nibbling at her pasta - or pushing it around her plate with her fork when she's not eating.

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
"I accidently blew up a classroom when I was little. Got put in a correction facility for juveniles... Really a code word for laboratory." Tommy frowns gravely staring out the window.

"When I get a chance, I think I'll poke a few of those bastards with needles. Come up with a few lame experiments to see how they like it." He gazes toward Clarice. "Unless Genosha imprisons kids for being different and making a few mistakes, I've got to say it sounds better then the US. At least for people like us."

"I'd definitely be a citizen of Asteroid M instead of down there. Bullshit democracy. I'll hang here, and visit there for the beaches." He grins.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    For a moment, there's sympathy and understanding in Clarice's eyes - until her own deep well of pain begins to peek through. At that moment, she directs her attention down at her plate - spearing a piece of chicken with excessive force.
    "The Magistrates viewed their mutant citizens as a resources to be exploited. They were ripped from their families, experimented upon, and enslaved. ...until Magneto and the Brotherhood overthrew them." She speaks in a quiet, almost leaden voice - without glancing up towards Thomas.

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
Thomas Shepherd says, "Well shit. I guess its really the same playbook then, huh? Exploit mutants when you can, and destroy those that you can't control." He sighs and folds his arms, "Fuck 'em. Fuck them all. Who the hell can claim to be innocent when they let shit like that happen to people?"

"Maybe we should just go find out own planet, start our own world, and leave the rest of these bastards to destroy themselves." He pauses, "Oh wait, that's how you get robot armies. Ugh. There's no winning. But at least there's the occasional relaxing on a beach, sipping cold drinks, and breathing fresh air.""

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Lorna's rebuilding Genosha. We'll be safe there when it's rebuilt," Clarice insists quitely.
     I mean, sure, it's an island that just had 99% of its population wipes out. But surely that couldn't happen again?
    She continues staring at her plate for a moment, pushing around the pasta before she forces herself to take a bite. After that, she finally looks back up again - forcing a smile onto her features. "If you need someone to help you go after those guys, and jab 'em with needles," or teleport pieces of their body to the far corners of the globe, "I'm your girl."

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
Tommy nods in consideration of Genosha then listens to the offer. He grins broadly then fans himself, "Now that's was totally the hottest thing anyone has ever said to me."

He laughs then disappears for a moment in a rush of air only to return with a bottle of water. He drinks, "Not sure I'd let you take away that pleasure for from me, but I'd definitely call you to help hide the bodies."

Pursing his lips, he considers. "Think I'll have to give it a few years though. I don't want them to blame me for it quite yet. Let them forget about what they did to me for now, so I can enjoy reminding them later... Then I'll make them pay. My 'method' of getting payback only seems to get better. I'm torn between dragging them behind me at a few hundred miles per hour... or just using a piece of sandpaper and giving them a super quick rubdown."

"Part of me hopes I'll grow out of wanting to torture them... but hasn't happened yet."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Yeah, well, by the time I was... //me//, the Magistrates had already been taken apart. I never really got the chance to-" Clarice cuts off as a cold, //angry// expression takes root on her features for a moment. She'd missed the chance to exact her own revenge. She took some solace that much of that blood had been spilled by Mister Creed's claws - and he knows how to make it last.
    "I can appreciate the need to do your own work," she finally remarks.
    She's silent for a moment before adding, "The longer you wait, the more opportunities they have to do this to someone else."

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
The possibility of others going through what he did does give him some pause. He frowns, "You are right, its just... it was a US facility, and I guess.. I haven't been ready to declare my own personal war. I'm scared of being imprisoned again."

He frowns and hangs his head, "I guess that makes me a little selfish, doesn't it?"

Sipping from his water bottle, he considers. "Maybe once I've really proven myself to the Brotherhood, I'll put a request in. I don't want to drag anyone into my own conflict without being really prepared first."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "We look after our own. And if these people are imprisonning and torturing our brothers and sisters - then that is what the Brotherhood //exists// to take care of," Clarice remarks in a cool, firm tone of voice.
    She lets out a sigh before adding, "We just have to find a way to take them out without looking like we're resorting to terrorism once more." Oh, the complicated politics of their new existance... She nudges the food on her plate some more, before taking another bite. "I'm sure we can sort it out, though."

Tommy Shepherd has posed:
Tommy reaches over and punches Blink's bicep. "Thanks... Maybe its something I should bring up with Mystique. She's got that whole subtle thing down really well. Maybe we can get the place shutdown permanently, and then catch all the bastards while they are looking for new positions."

"But yea, its definitely complicated. Too complicated for me at least. Not much of my 'teenage' years left. I suppose to be like.. Finding myself or something. Maybe more low-key mistakes. Breaking a few hearts. Adulting sucks." He chuckles.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Definitely bring it up to Mystique," Clarice confirms. "This is the sort of thing she lives for. Those bastards will get what's coming to them, guaranteed. And she'd never drream of robbing you of your place in seeing it through." She pushes her pasta around a little bit more - then nudges the plate away.
    No. What this conversation needs is //brownies//. She starts in on her treat, instead. Even though the poor broccoli hardly even got touched.
    "And like I said - I'm happy to help as well."