8883/A Tale of Jupiter

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A Tale of Jupiter
Date of Scene: 30 November 2021
Location: 102 20th St - Jessica Drew's Building
Synopsis: No description
Cast of Characters: Jessica Drew, Michael Erickson




Jessica Drew has posed:
It's the English side of Jessica that is in the ascendancy this evening, she doesn't revisit how angry she had been at Michael earlier. They had discussed the odd experience of using a weapon blessed by an Egyptian deity on their way back into the City. Weapon ranges and efficiency and kill rates had filled their conversation.

After she has showered, Jessica comes out into the living room in a a shapeless sweater, a jade green, that intensifies the color of her eyes, over a pair of yoga pants and sheepskin slippers. After pulling a couple of throw pillows to one side of the couch, she nestles into them, facing Michael, "So. Tell me about Jupiter. If you want anything to eat or drink, I can listen from here."

Michael Erickson has posed:
    Michael, still in his suit, hangs his jacket by the door and enters, thin black down down his front and equally black nylon shoulder rug playing host to the long, sleek black pistol that was the previous subject of disicussion before Jon came to visit. Knowing the place, Michael goes to pour himself a glass of water - and, as insstructed, goes to sit on the other end of the sofa, glass in hand and choosing not to press his luck considering the anger that she did burn with earlier in the evening.

    "Well," he begins, "As you know, i've been touring about the star system. Getting a feel of the place, considering the kinds of threats that might be about. As I said before, it's like touring a new neighborhood. Jupiter, of course, is a fantastic choice, being enormous, curious, and beautiful. I've always enjoyed when I was on a transport or some othe vessel that had to fly through a gas giant's atmosphere. Big clouds stir something inside of me." Well, his kind /are/ descended from birds.

Jessica Drew has posed:
"Touring about the Galaxy. We have two perspectives here," she purses her lips and fixes him with a look. In an even, reasonable voice, "Imagine from my perspective how outlandish that might sound, how outside the experience of ninety-nine point nine percent of humanity that is, how alarming that might sound from a security standpoint. In that light, it is not at all unreasonable for me to expect to be told."

She holds up a hand to keep him from speaking until she is finished, "Now, say you needed to go to France for a few days or even /I/ had to. I would consider it perfectly reasonable to inform you. I don't expect you to tell me if you hop down to the nearest Bodega. It was and is from that optic that I'm alarmed, was alarmed at not knowing you had gone." She makes an open-handed invitation for him to speak.

Michael Erickson has posed:
    He takes a deep breath, and rubs at the back of his head with a broad hand. "I...yes," he says after a moment. "No, of course you're right - I apologize, Jessica. I hadn't thought of that way. I'll start telling you when I go offworld, if only for your own peace of mind." After all, he doesn't seem to like SHIELD knowing /everything/ he does, but...things are different between them, now. "I...hoep that you will accept my apology. Especially for my earlier flippancy."

Jessica Drew has posed:
Jessica takes a long deep breath, considering whether she'll tell him how his haring off into space without her knowing could potentially impact her professionally. "I will talk to Commander Carter." Somewhat disingenuously, eyebrows raised innocently, she asks, "How did the Commander react to you telling her about being out to Saturn and how you came on the body? In fact, how did you, ah, find it?"

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "Well, it wasn't the Saturn bit that bothered her," Michael replies, settling a bit into his seat now that it /sounds/ as if his apology has been accepted. "It was the fact I had a corpse in my deep freeze." He gives her a tight smile. "I think perhaps she felt I was being disrespectful. I'm just used to having to make do, you see. I haven't had any support from home since I came to the planet. Which means you end up storing corpses in your freezer from time to time before you can dispose of them."

    Moving along quickly, he changes subjects. "As for how I came upon it, well - as I said, I was just out flying through the clouds, when I came upon a platform of sorts floating in the upper atmosphere. I'd never actually seen the like, but it seemed some kind of industrial setup. Even from a distance, I could tell that it was extremely old - it was still functional, but its surfaes were coverd with corrosion. When I went to land on the platform, I found a blister of sorts in which a very old, fossilized corpse was contained, one of the corpse-machines that I talked about. Well, I left it alone for the moment, recognizing it as a form of necroplatform, and examined the devices, that sort of thing. I didn't know the language, but the armor's mind, it let out a thought of identification before it could hide it. 'Badoon'. It recognized the species that made it, you see. I've heard of the Badoon, but I don't know anything about them. Doctor Foster's heard of them too, but likewise she knows very little. But they're not supposed to be out in this area of space. Too far away.

    "Needless to say, it was very curious. But while I was fooling about with a systems diagnostics panel I discovered that the platform's fission generator was just about to wear out, to go into an uncontrolled meltdown. I needed to destroy it, since shutting it down was no longer an option. That's when more blisters opened and more of the corpse-machines came out to engage me, their containment vessels apparently sealed and, ah, 'fresh'."

Jessica Drew has posed:
Hand over her mouth, Jessica starts to giggle in little snorts. The giggles get stronger, shaking her shoulders, until her eyes start to water. "Of course, I never live anywhere without a deep freezer, in case," she manages before the giggles turn into laughter that she can't stop.

Gasping, red in the face, she clears her throat, trying to get control of herself, "I'm so sorry."

A couple of deep breaths later, she is nodding along to his story with occasional involuntary smiles pulling at the edges of her lips as she listens.

Once more focused on his story, the laughter disappears to be replaced by a look of growing alarm. "Did you dispatch them all and bring the one we picked up for examination? Is it a potential threat to Earth, Michael?"

Michael Erickson has posed:
    Her laughter seems to escape him, but he smiles along with her - until she sobers, and his brows lift faintly once again. They're like wings, really, when he does that. Which one imagines would make sense. "It's fine," he says, the smile maintained as he continues now. "And yes, I did end up destroying them all except for the one I brought back, which I simply disabled by pulling out its power supply." Where that was, God only knows. "I destroyed the reactor and let the platform fall safely into the lower atmosphere, and brought the corpse back as it was human and should be identified.

    "Then, of course, I put it in the freezer - though I don't store food in that one, so don't worry. I let it sit a day or two to ensure that it wasn't going to get back up again, and in the meantime of course you and I weren't in contact. Though I realize now what I should have done was call SWORD right away, or at least deliver it to the Triskelion." Michael grimaces faintly now, rubbing the back of his head. "I've been too long out and about with full autonomy. Not used to having a support system."

Jessica Drew has posed:
There is more to process in his recital than Michael seems to realize. Entrenched orbital stations, no matter their age, being one of them. Enslaved necroplatforms being another. The potential threat to the Earth or at least a threat analysis of the potential comes in at close first.

Nodding, she agrees dryly, "Glad we got that out of the way. If only to let them decide threat levels, Michael. Though I appreciate how autonomous you've been. There likely will be a question of whose side you are on for a while and passing that information on, sorry if I'm being pedantic here," she says with a little grimace. "Will go a long way toward changing that attitude."

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "Yes, I understand," Michael replies, taking a sip of his water. "But of course it's a mystery, and I knew that you SHIELD folks would want to see it." He considers. "The problem is, of course, that I'm not a SHIELD agent, and I'm still a private citizen - SHIELD doesn't need to know everything that I'm doing, in my view, so long as it doesn't put humanity in danger. But on the other hand..." Michael frowns faintly. "I recognize that it's important for you to know what I get up to, if only because of our relationship. It's been a very long time since I've been 'the boyfriend.'" Finger quotes and eveything. "I'm afraid I'm a bit rusty."

Jessica Drew has posed:
Fingers pressed into her forehead, Jessica chuckles into the palm of her hand. "It's one of the challenges we both face. I'm not sure I do the 'girlfriend' all that well either, Michael and certainly not the Shi'ar variety if that exists in your culture." She removes her hand to look at him, "Um, does it?"

Nodding thoughtfully, she aligns her next words carefully, "I understand how you want to keep your autonomy. I think I understand how you are used to being a free agent. I also think that you realize how touchy an agency like SHIELD could get regarding anything that could impact national or international security. That's where I come in, though there is potential for compromising myself"

Shifting on the couch, she moves a pillow behind her back before continuing, "Could you tell me when you find artifacts in or out of orbit that could be a potential threat? I could help access it by terran standards. I know you know us better than we know ourselves, sometimes but do you see the dilemna?"

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "Surely," Michael says with a nod and a smile. "I don't have anything, of course. I don't have anything else to report, and of course the only 'artifact' I've brought back is, of course, your pearls." He winks - yes! Winks! - and drains his glass before setting it aside onto the coffee table. "But yes, I understand."

    Then he adds as an aside, "And yes, we do have 'girlfriends' and 'boyfriends'. We mate for life, but that comes with matrimony."

Jessica Drew has posed:
Jessica's eyes widen slightly, in lieu of her mouth dropping open and her making a hex sign. "The pearls are really lovely," she smiles briefly.

Then sobers, afraid of the possible answer, "Ah, do you date for long before getting to the serious stuff? I bet the ceremonies are elaborate affairs, too. With all the family involved." The latter said with relief, like that will never happen to us.

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "Be at peace, halan," Michael says, though his expression does fade faintly. "We aren't going to be moving in anytime soon, much less...anything else. I'm not that sort."

Jessica Drew has posed:
Jess tips her head in a question she doesn't voice, feeling she has disappointed him. She has her own monsters to deal with. "We need to eat."

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "Sure thing." He gets to his feet, his smile faint but returning. "I'll make something. Do you still have the foie gras?"

Jessica Drew has posed:
"No, no more foie gras, I'm afraid." She twists to watch him, looking over the back of the couch. "Let's order in. I want to hear more about what Carter said about Jupiter. What we know already. Is she onboard with me training to go into space? I haven't heard a peep from anyone about it."