7946/And now for something completely different....

And now for something completely different....
Date of Scene:	23 September 2021
Location:	Asteroid M
Synopsis:	The questions have answers as Clarice and Lydia speak with their guest from China. Plans are underway to rescue Mystique.
Cast of Characters:	Raven Darkholme, Lydia Dietrich, Clarice Ferguson

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Raven Darkholme has posed:
Hathaway was not expecting to have Clarice, Lydia, D, and Rahne, as a werewolf, drop into the medbay, but that didn't mean she wasn't ready for it. She and her team kicked into action, darts were removed, each was stripped down and cleaned off to ensure no traces of the gas remained. The team knew what they were doing and did do in a fast, efficient manner to get all four into beds to recover. Testing showed a standard horse sedative, enough to down an elephant, but still it was pretty standard.

As for the guest... Hathaway kept her at the end of a gun through a shower, hair cut and into some spare clothing. She kept her at the end of a gun through a meal that the young Chinese woman scarfed down like she hadn't eaten in days. And she kept her at the end of a gun in the room with the four sleeping people. Hathaway didn't know what else to do, Clarice was the one in charge, so... there it was.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
This is the second time in her life that Lydia's gotten drugged. At least /this/ time all it did was cause her to pass out instead of become a pliant zombie. She wakes up on a hospital bed in the Medbay with a groan. "Uggh. Feels like somebody tap danced on my head and stuffed cotton in my mouth." It takes her a moment to get all her limbs in working order, and manages to sit up.

She looks about her to see the other members of the away team slowly coming to consciousness the same time she was, although it looks like Rahne might be out for a little while longer. The wolf girl must have taking far more darts than the rest of them did.

Turning to Hathaway she asks, "Can you have somebody bring us some water? My mouth is really dry."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    The first thing Clarice mutters hardly sounds like English as part of her brain - somehow - has managed to default back to Bajan after all these years. "Wuh da 'ell," she mutters under her breath, one hand reaching up to touch her head which doesn't feel large enough to justify the throbbing she felt. "Wuh ting 'appen day?"
    Only after she blinks from Hathaway, towards Lydia, and the slumbering Rahne does her brain seem to boot up properly. "Gah, I have a headache," she mutters. "What happened?" she asks in proper English, as she tries to cast her mind back.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Hathway has a gun pointed at some Chinese woman as they wake up, but no sooner than Lydia asked for water than the Chinese women stands and pours some from the pitcher of ice water and offers it to her. Gasp! She's so threatening. To be even more threatening, she pours a glass of water for Clarice too. That bitch.

"I was hoping you could tell me," Hathaway says softly, keeping the gun aimed at the 'prisoner'. "You and your team popped into the medbay with a cloud of gas and numerous darts sticking out of you."

D groans and rolls over to vomit over the edge of the bed into the bucket that was there, apparently this was not the first time. "Trap," she says afterward and lays back again. "We walked into a trap."

The Chinese woman moves back to the chair she was sitting in, making sure to move slowly so that Hathaway doesn't shoot her.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia nods, remembering the gas, but not the darts. "Well," she says, gratefully taking the glass of water. "I guess I get to scratch getting tranq darted off my bucket list." She takes a sip of the water with an appreciative, "Mm. That's better." That takes care of the whole dry mouth thing, but the pounding headache is another thing all together.

She manages to rotate around on the bed to be able to get her feet on the floor but she doesn't even dare try to stand up. Instead she just holds her head in her hands waiting for the pain to ease up. "Who's our visitor?" she asks, not recognizing the Chinese woman now that she's actually clean.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "...trap. Right," Clarice repeats, as she takes the glass of water. "We tracked Mystique to a hotel or some sort. Rahne followed the scene upstairs - and then... I tried to block the darts." But apparently failed. Her gaze locks onto Rahne who remains worryingly still. At least she got everyone out. At least they were all here.
    "Rahne's alright?" she asks with concern underpinning her tone.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
The woman waves and points down once, a little hint as to who she is, then looks over to Hathaway as the doctor starts talking.

"No idea, she popped through with you, she said she knew about Mystique and don't kill her, so I thought it best to keep her around." Emily says, then looks over at Rahne.

"Rahne took a large number of darts, twice as many as everyone else given her size, she'll likely be out for a while longer, but she'll be fine."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
"Thank God for that," Lydia says, taking another sip of water. That seems to be helping. She looks up when the woman waves and points down. There's a bit of momentary confusion but she recognizes the motion. "You're the woman from the other side of the window."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Alright," Clarice replies, accepting Hathaway's assessment. As long as she believed Rahne would be alright - she could accept that. If there was a real concern, she didn't expect Hathaway would sugar coat it. "Here - help me," she remarks - holding out a hand for balance. A bit wobbly on her feet, she struggles the short distance to Rahne's bed, pulling herself onto it to snuggle up against the lupine woman.
    As she does, she regards the Chinese woman. "I guess it's a good thing I opened the window," she remarks. "What do you know?"

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Hathaway finally puts the gun back into the holster, then moves over to Clarice, helping her stand and get over to Rahne's bed.

"Take this a little slower Clarice," she says in that tone that clearly indicates she's serious, don't fuck with her. "You always push too damn hard, and too damn fast and this is what happens. You should be in your own damn bed recovering."

The Chinese woman just waits, not moving once the gun is no longer pointed at her, in fact her demeanor doesn't change at all. She watches the doctor helping Clarice while complaining, glances to Lydia for a moment, then looks back to Clarice.

"I know they took her," she says softly, only a slight accent. "Ying says that your Mystique was taken two days ago, moved to the Warehouse to be indoctrinated into the program." She closes her eyes a moment, and in that moment she looks like to people at once. One with long hair the other with the now short hair, the images superimposed over each other for a split second. "They know Ying reached out to me, they were going to send her to The Deep, but Mystique stopped them... and they sent her instead."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia looks up to watch the Chinese woman as she speaks. There's this sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that has nothing to do with the sedatives that had been used on her.

"Indoctrination? Warehouse? The Deep?" She casts a worried glance over to Clarice. "Do you have any idea what she's talking about? This sounds bad. This sounds real bad." Her hands start fidgeting with the water glass in worry, and she's trying to keep it together.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "I'm exactly where I ought to be," Clarice contradicts the doctor, once she's settled in against Rahne. "...but I'm not going anywhere else yet. Promise."
    A promise that is almost immediately put to the test. She pushes herself up to a seated position, her eyes going wide at the woman's words. "Two days ago? That can't be. She-" Clarice reaches into her pocket, pulling out her phone to study the messages. "Shit," she murmurs quietly. "SHIT." In frustration, she throws her phone, before sinking back down against Rahne.
    "I should have paid better attention," she mutters under her breath.
    Okay. Freak out later. Deal with this now. Ignore the pounding in your head. "Good fucking luck indoctrinating Mystique. She'll- she'll be okay Lydia." She leads her gaze find the green-hued woman. "We're gonna get her back."
    Her gaze goes directly to the woman, her expression focused and intent. "Tell us //everything// you know. What is this program? Where is this warehouse? What security do they have? How many people? What's 'the Deep'?"

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Hathaway glares at Clarice for a moment. She honestly never thought the woman was a good choice for second, but it wasn't her call. What was her call was how much pain Clarice got to be in, or not in. Walking over she runs her hand over Clarice's heads, making sure to actually touch her scalp. That's when Hathaway's mutation kicks in. She's like a drug dispensary, just enough pain killers to get rid of the headache and no side effects because it's all natural.

"When you become a doctor Clarice, you can decide where, as a patient, you should be." She walks over to Lydia now, running her hand over her head just as she did with Clarice. The both of them needed to be at the top of their game, and that meant no pain.

Yang again goes silent while Hathaway does her doctor thing, then she looks back to Clarice. "The Chinese government is looking for the perfect mutants," she begins. "They have been gathering every Chinese mutant there is and taking them to the Warehouse. Once there, they are taught to work for their government in dangerous jobs, at the nuclear plant. The sort of jobs that humans don't want to do, or that are too dangerous."

She stands up now, and gets herself a glass of water. She's not a prisoner now, well not completely, so she feels safe doing it. "They take DNA from everyone. Some are willing to serve their country, many are not, like me and Ying. Those who willing serve earn freedoms, those who fight are sent to The Deep, those in the middle exist in terror and fear of making a mistake and being used as cannon fodder or ending up in The Deep."

She takes a drink of the water, then looks into the cup. "The Warehouse is on the same land as the Beijing Nuclear Power Plant," she ontinues and then her voice gets very, very quiet. "The Deep is a room near the radiation core where they observe the effects of radiation on different types of mutants. They inject them with... things... then put them down there to see what happens and how it effects..." she stops there, glancing up to the two women.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia breathes a sigh of relief as Dr. Hathaway runs her hands over her scalp. She looks up gratefully and says, "Thank you, Doctor."

She watches Yang as she talks, a scowl forming, and only deepening as she learns more. "That's horrible," she says, looking at Clarice. "We have to stop this. That... we have to get Mystique out of there and we have to stop this."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Thank you," Clarice murmurs, moments before Lydia as the pain in her head subsides. Despite her fear, her frustration, her anger - she sinks back against Rahne, wrapping one arm around the slumbering woman. They're subjecting Mystique to //radiation//? "We need to get Jasmine here," she says firmly. "I mean - I know she usually only- but this is Mystique. We need her to be alright." They need Jasmine.
    "How long has she been in 'the Deep'?" She asks. "How long can people last there? Do you know anything about their security? About their forces?" she asks urgently.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Hathaway falls silent now, but she pulls out her own phone to start sending out texts. She might be able to get Jasmine to come, if she can just remember the right words to use. Speaking to an Indian Goddess, or at least what many around her believed her to be, was never an easy thing.

Yang frowns and sets the water down, then looks around for a moment. Collecting a pad of paper off the table, and then a pencil, she closes her eyes again. This time the imposed image of her with long hair imposed over the short haired version stays and immediately starts drawing out something on the pad. One page, then another, then finally a third, the process taking about fifteen minutes before the pencil is set down and her eyes open, once again just herself.

"This is the layout of the Warehouse," she sets page one to the side, it has three floors, each drawn out quickly but nothing appears to have been missed, including the location of security and there is a lot of them. "This is the layout of the power plants grounds, which is where the Warehouse is." Page two reveals all the locations of security on the outside. "This is... the underground bunker that leads to The Deep," she then says, moving page three to the side. "You access it from the Power Plant, not the Warehouse."

Looking between them now, she sits back down. "The longest anyone has ever lasted in the Deep is four days," she says sadly. "They know you are coming. You cannot teleport in, they know you will try and there is a mutant to can block that. Those mutants who will not fight you will be wearing yellow headbands or arm bands, and when it starts they will drop to the floor. Anyone left standing will be your enemy." She takes a drink of the water. "Ying says that Mystique went to The Deep when the GPS signal was lost."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Instead of getting up (which her doctor has advised against) She reaches out a hand and a tendril of ectoplasm snakes out and takes the papers. She gives them a quick once over so she knows what people are talking about when she hands them over to Clarice.

Another tendril grabs the pitcher of water and pours herself another glass. "How do you and Ying know about the GPS?" she asks. "You know an /awful/ lot." There's that suspicious paranoia that Mystique had rubbed off on her.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    The grin Clarice gives Lydia is almost proud, as she takes the drawings, and studies them. She also questions the wisdom of automatically ignoring anyone who hits the floor, and dismissing them as not a threat. There were a lot of mutants who could seem to be doing little to nothing - who could hit the floor like that and still do oa lot of harm. "Do you know the range of this 'anti-teleportation' mutant?" Clarice asks, a frown on her features. Because - yes. Teleporting straight to Mystique is what she would like to do.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Yang lifts her head to look at Lydia as she says, "I know because they have the other half of me, trapped there, working there, forced..." she stops, looking back into the water cup. "Mystique saved her, so we are doing what we can to help before we die."

Looking over at Clarice she says, "The entire area, the entire grounds of the power plant if he wants to, and he does. He thinks he's serving his country, he's not."

Now she looks between them, "Ying said that Mystique didn't think you'd believe me, if I even managed to find you, so she got a code for one of Mystique's... tablets... and said..." she looks to Lydia, "May I please whisper this to you?"

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia looks thoughtful for a moment. Things still aren't quite adding up. "Perhaps it's my naivete speaking, but shouldn't so many mutants be able to put up some kind of resistance? It doesn't sound like they're using suppression collars on them, or else Ying wouldn't be able to talk to Yang. I think." She shakes her head uncertainly.

She looks rather surprised, however, when Yang asks to whisper to her, so she nods in assent.

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "I don't know - depends on how many of them are willing to serve their nation. They could have many of them drugged. They may reserve the collars for the most powerful threats. There's a lot of ifs," Clarice remarks - with a deep frown on her features.
    "If there's really someone who can counter my portals there - I'll be all but useless until we can find and eliminate them," she remarks unhappily.
    Gesturing towards Hathaway she adds, "Send someone to fetch Mystique's tablets from her quarters." And then with a thoughtful frown she adds, "And see if you can find Pete."
    If Rahne were awake she might be able to sniff out any lies but- alas.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Yang stands up and moves over by Lydia's bed. "They use them on the ones who won't cooperate, but that they still need their DNA. Mystique was put in one, but they don't know what Ying's mutation is. To them, she's just something they can't put their finger one, but that's because she's only half of me. If I was there with her, they'd see the mutation."

Leaning in closer to Lydia she whispers, <Mystique said... you looked so beautiful, complete...ly naked in the moonlight... at... at the Japanese spa. Th...that the w..way you m...m...moaned when s..sh..she touched you... its... the moment sh...she'll remember, h.hold onto t..to keep her sane.>

Yang's cheeks go so crimson, a deep, deep red as she leans back and clears her throat. "I know it's hard to believe me, but I... we want to help you, so whatever you need to prove it, I'll do it."

Hathaway steps out of the room now. She has to call Jasmine and send someone to do commit a no-no, but she's not getting the tablet so it won't be her ass in a sling.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
The blush that blooms on Lydia spreads from damn near the top of her head, down her chest and to her toes. "Um." She coughs, "Ahm. Yes. That's certainly Mystique." Millions of miles away and deep in the heart of a radioactive prison and she still manages to make Lydia blush like a schoolgirl. "I think we can trust her."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice studies Lydia, and then the Chinese mutant, and then Lydia again - trying to piece together in her mind what she thinks the woman may have said. "...Private moment between you and Mystique?" she surmises quietly. Of all the 'passphrases' Mystique could of given - that's what goes with? Under her breath she adds in a mutter, "I mean, sounds like Raven to me."
    She studies the plans with a frown. As much as she would like to go straight for Mystique... "We might be best-served freeing and uncollaring as many mutants as we can up front, to create more chaos, and get them on our side for this fight. It'll keep the security occupied as we go after the people behind this thing, and free the people in the Deep. But if I'm going to be useless - we'll need as many heavy hitters as we can manage. Maybe... since we're going after a group that's enslaving and experimenting on mutants - we might be able to get some of the Xavier crowd to help, but..."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
The doors opens and Pete walks in, in his hand a tablet and on his face a confused expression. He was sitting in Theo's room, doing his homework when someone came bursting in and said a bunch of things really fast. The only thing he really got was, 'Clarice needs you in medbay'. On his way there, someone else handed him the tablet and ran away like they'd just stolen it from Best Buy.

"Uh... you..." he smiles and offers the tablet to Clarice. "Me and the tablet, right?"

Yang moves back to sit down. She looks exhausted, the meal had helped, as had the shower and clean clothes, but she looks awful. "A message went to someone called Rogue," she says softly. "Automated from her computer if she didn't do something."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia gives Clarice a nod. "It was very.... detailed. Left no room to the imagination." She takes a sip of the water and sets it on the end table, attempting to stand. She seems a little wobbly at first but soon has her legs underneath her.

She nods at Yang, "That sounds like something Mystique would do," she says, moving over to the next bed so she can sit with Clarice and Rahne, that way they can crowd around the tablet. "Thanks for coming, Pete."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "Yeah - that makes sense. I'll contact her," Clarice promises. Wouldn't do to have Rogue anxious, without any information. For all the bad-blood between them - there's love there, too. "You said she gave you the code...?" She gestures for Pete to hand off the tablet at Yang's gesture, and then to bring it back to her once it's been unlocked. Once she has it - rather than accessing any of the data on it, she brings up a note pad, and writing with her finger hastily scrawls out, 'Pete - is she telling trooth?' Clarice's handwriting is awful - but maybe that's just because no one writes neatly on a tablet? Her gaze goes from the message, to Pete, to the Chinese woman, and back again.
    Meanwhile, she remarks simply, "Yeah, thanks for coming Pete. We're all fine - just had a bit of an exciting morning. Did we wake you?"
    She's pretty sure they did. It had been a ridiculous hour when they left - but then again, Pete and Theo usually wake hours before she does...

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Pete blinks once, then takes the tablet to Yang. The Chinese women reaches over and enters the very long pin code. Most require just 4 numbers, or a design drawn in, but Mystique's had no less than twenty numbers and letters combined. Pete offers a smile and carries it back to Clarice. He doesn't mind helping out, but he's still not sure why he was needed.

As Clarie writes out the question, he blinks at her a few times and finally understands. He can actually help, well... maybe. He'll certainly try. "We heard an alarm, but uh, slept through it?" He grimaces, playing right along with the conversation while he reached out and touched at Yang's mind. It was and will likely forever be, the strangest thing to ever happen to him. Instantly he goes pale as a ghost and sits down, just happens to be on the floor. "Th...Theo made it class on time though," he then mutters, staring at Yang.

Yang sat quietly now, not looking at the group. She assumed more tests, more ways to prove herself, but she was starting to believe there was no way to prove it.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia watches as Pete sits down heavily on the floor, growing concerned. "Hey," she says gently, sitting on the floor with him, wrapping an arm around him. "Are you okay?"

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Concern colors Clarice's gaze as well, but she lets Lydia tend to Pete, while her gaze goes to Yang uncertainly. Had she just //done// something to Pete? It wouldn't do any good to jump to that conclusion, not just yet, so after a frown, she directs her attention to the tablet, checking to see if there was anything Mystique might want her to have access to - or that might help them in their goal of retrieving the woman.

Raven Darkholme has posed:
On the 'desktop' of the tablet is a folder named, 'Clarice Read Me!'. When opened the file inside is a document file that reads, 'The code to open my tablet is buried in places no mind reader could get to it, if you're actually reading this, guess what... you can trust I gave the code to whom ever it was.'

Pete blinks a few times when he's touched, the contact ripping him out of whatever it was that he was in. He looks at Lydia with a confused expression, then says, "She's telling the truth... and that was /so/ trippy." He finally grins, letting his breath out slow, then hugs Lydia back because he needed to make sure all of him was here on the Asteroid now.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
"It's okay," Lydia says, squeezing Pete tight. Once he seems more settled she tells him, "You did good, kiddo. Go back to Theo. When we're done you can tell us all about it over waffles, okay?"

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    "As long as you're okay, Pete," Clarice says quietly, some of the lingering tension easing out of her form.
    And hey, true to her word, she was still staying in bed. Unlike Lydia, it seemed. "I wouldn't intentionally put you in harm's way." She lets out a sigh as she adds, "We're all going to have another mission to go out on soon, but it'll work out okay." She eyes the plans for the base before remarking, "We'll have Mister Creed to help us with our plans, and there aren't many folks out there as good at strategy as he is." Let your team use their strengths.
    Looking back to Yang she adds, "You're welcome here on the Asteroid. Stay out of any areas that say 'restricted' - and I'm going to keep an escort with you. You'll be put up in guest quarters or now while we prepare."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Pete nods to Lydia as a huge grin spreads across his face. He helped, and got to experience something totally new in the process. Slowly he looks over to Clarice with that grin, "So I shouldn't tell Theo that you're in the medbay for some reason you don't intend to share, and that you'll be back from your 'mission' to China to save the mutants and Mystique when you manage to get back?"

Yang lifts her head to look over at Clarice. "I want to go with you. I need to find Ying, or we're both going to die... soon."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia gets to her feet when Pete does. "Probably not, Pete," she says. "If anybody's going to tell Theo anything it's going to be Clarice." She lays a comforting hand on the purple mutant as she raises a quizzical eyebrow at Yang. "How soon is 'soon'?"

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Clarice lets out a sigh. "Pete... you're the worst." But even as she says it, there's a small smile on her lips. "Look... I don't want to put you in a position where you have to lie to Theo, or conceal things, or whatever but- yeah. If he wants to know what's going on, aim him my way, and we can talk. If it doesn't come up - I'll make sure I at least touch bases with him - and with you - before we go out on this job. Yeah?" she confirms.
    Her gaze goes towards Yang as she adds, "You can come. I suggest you rest up in the meantime so you're //ready// - because it doesn't sound like this is going to be easy."

Raven Darkholme has posed:
Yang stands up slowly, offering a smile. "Not immediately, and not tomorrow," she offers with a shrug. "We've been feeling it coming, closer and closer. It's what happens when we're separated for too long, and it's been three months now."

Pete glances to Yang for a moment, then before he says anything to Clarice or Lydia, he walks over and puts his hand on her shoulder. Again he goes pale, and she gets that same out of focus, long hair and short hair phasing thing happens, then Pete lifts his hand off her shoulder and looks back to Clarice.

"Theo won't ask," he says to Clarice as if nothing just happened. "He's at school, he'll check on you himself and I won't say anything, but I won't lie, so if he does happen to ask, I'll try not to tell him everything and send him to you."

Yang shakes her head like she's trying to clear it, blinks a few times, then stares at Pete in shock. Already the color in her cheeks is starting to return. "Th...thank you," she breaths to him, then sits down to have a moment to collect herself.

Pete offers Yang a smile, "You're welcome, was just out of sync, that's all. Should help, right?"

Yang nods, "A lot... thank you again."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
Lydia watches this exchange with interest, and gives Pete a grin. "You'll have to tell us what that was about over waffles," she says. It's not that going out for waffles was a big deal or anything, since they /do/ have a waffle bar but still. It's waffles.

She turns to Clarice. "I'm going to head back to our room," she says. "I need to... do something. I don't know. Write. Work on my book some. Something to take my mind off this situation or else I'm just going to end up pacing in circles for the next couple of days and go mad." She lets out a long drawn out breath. "Contact me if you need me for anything. I know I'm not good at this whole commando stuff, but I feel so useless, and I don't like feeling useless."

Clarice Ferguson has posed:
    Lydia had already said what Clarice was thinking - only Lydia added waffles to the equation. Always a good call.
    "Thanks Pete," Clarice says sincerely. Her gaze goes down to the tablet in her hands for a moment, but then back up to the boy as she adds, "Hey Pete? ... love ya." She flashes him a brief smile, before looking to Lydia.
    "I'll stay here until Rahne wakes up - work on recalling our people. We //need// Mister Creed for this. I bet Mortimer'll help, too. I'll see who else we can put. Rogue'd be damned useful if she'd agree.
    "We'll figure it out, and we'll get her back, Lydia. And we'll make them pay, I promise you."