9351/Feed Me, Seymour

Feed Me, Seymour
Date of Scene:	29 December 2021
Location:	Commander May's Office: Triskelion
Synopsis:	During debrief over the alien plant situation, Mike brings up issues with alien protocols, May is awesome, and Peggy is just plain done with the Pentagon. They fight crime!
Cast of Characters:	Michael Erickson, Melinda May, Peggy Carter

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Michael Erickson has posed:
    Politely does the being that calls himself Michael Erickson sit inside the Commander's office, legs crossed, hands folded upon one knee - in his gray suit he looks as much like a piece of business furniture as anything else in the room. Blandly handsome, blandly dressed. Bit fashy with the haircut but otherwise rather pleasantly forgettable. Which would make him a good candidate for the job he was selected for on this planet, one assumes. The inobtrusive observer. And now he waits for the Commander's attention, because she is a busy lady.

Melinda May has posed:
The best spies appear bland and unremarkable, really. They're all but bred that way. As it is, May's always been more of an infiltration and retrieval specialist, rather than an undercover operative -- not that she's not done her fair share of that over the years. It all depends on situational awareness.

Regardless, she's just returning to the other side of her desk as Erickson makes himself comfortable. "Thanks for coming," she tells him. "As far as debriefs go, this one should be fairly straightforward. You've submitted your report, I assume?"

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "I have, Commander." His brows arch very slightly, but his expression remains bland, if not stony. Polite. He's in the house of friends, after all. "The facts and bones. No opinions."

Melinda May has posed:
May nods in reponse to Erickson's summation of the style of his report. "Yeah. Well, that's what debriefs are for. The chief should be joining us shortly. I'm sure she'll have questions."

She pushes back from her desk and moves to a sideboard. "You want some tea? I'm going to put some on for Carter." And herself.

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "No, thank you." Michael gives May a faint smile. "I am, unfortunately, lightly allergic to most tea on this planet. Hot water would be nice, though, if you don't mind." All of this tea! Once, in the early '80s, he dared to be...a Coffee Achiever. But alas, no longer.

Peggy Carter has posed:
It's almost nice going for a report in May's office. It's like getting out of the house and going somewhere exciting and new! Or, more so, it's getting away from the barrage of phonecalls and angry reports she's been handling since she talked to the Pentagon about something on the 26th. The Director has barely left her office since then, though no one around SHIELD quite knows what the panic is yet. It hasn't gone public.

Peggy gives a little knock to the door and then pushes it open, stepping through to the other side. She gives them both a smile, "Probably best we have the meeting here. My phone won't stop ringing. Melinda. Michael." She greets them both with a brief nod before she walks around to the other guest chair and settles in.

Melinda May has posed:
May nods simply. "Hot water it is," she says. "You want a squeeze of lemon or something?" Not that she has a lemon on hand. But she could probably call for one. She sets up the cups, nonetheless -- the strong black looseleaf both she and Peg prefer when they're working, and an empty mug for Micael's water.

She glances over her shoulder as Peggy enters, giving her friend a brief smile. "Tea's on," she tells her. "We can stretch this out as long as you'd like." Totally aiding and abetting playing hookey.

Nevertheless, she knows they're here for business. "This one was straight out of a classic Seigel sci-fi thriller."

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "No, just water, please," he asserts May's way, still bearing the polite smile. When she gets to it, and then Peggy arrives, Michael's brows lift. "Chief," he says. "I wasn't aware that you'd be here. If you wish, I'm sure I can absolutely stretch this on as long as you'd like." A beat. "I've submitted my revised handbook for dealing with our extradimensional invaders and civillian resistance. None of the elements challenging the Geneva Convention remain."

    So, you know, there's that.

    Back to May, then, smiling again when she mentions science fiction. But he says nothing in response.

Peggy Carter has posed:
Dark brows arch towards both of them, especially as she hears news about just how science fiction strange this entire mission ended up being. "No, no reason to stretch it on, but being that Commander May was actually *there* when this happened, it seemed if you were doing debriefs, a senior officer should be here. That is me. And I'll take the twenty minutes out, but I should go back fairly quickly. Handling... some headaches with the Pentagon." Peggy explains simply, with a slightly tight smile that says this has been a stressful time, but she has it under wraps.

She then settles a bit deeper into the chair, crossing her legs and nodding a thank you at the tea but, since it is still brewing, she doesn't yet reach for it. She nods to Michael, "We can worry about the handbook later, I'm curious about this specific instance. What happened? Sci-Fi Thriller?" She asks that more directly at May.

Melinda May has posed:
May can feel Peggy's stress. But she doesn't pry. "Why don't you tell her, Erickson," she says to the birdman instead. A small hint of a smile touches her lips as she does. She's really just curious to hear his take on it. "I'll interject, if I think I need to."

She turns back to lean against the sideboard, arms folding over her chest as she waits for him to start the report. Waits for the water, really.

Michael Erickson has posed:
    Erickson looks between the two. "Do you want me to speak as a former Imperial agent, Commander, or as what I think SHIELD would find appropriate?" That sounds...ominously divergent.

Peggy Carter has posed:
Peggy looks curiously between both of them. She doesn't say anything but gives May a little bow of her head in affirmation for the other woman to answer, since it was her mission.

Melinda May has posed:
May's brow arches. "Oh, speak freely, Erickson. By all means. You said the bare bones are in your report. But I want to hear what you really think." Especially once they figured out alien material was involved. He's an alien. He's got to have *opinions*.

She turns back as the water comes to a boil, beginning to pour it out for the tea... and Michael's hot water.

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "Well." Michael folds his hands atop his knee anew, looking between the two. "As a SHIELD operation, it was perfectly executed, to no surprise given the two agents involved - frankly speaking I was pleased to see the two in action. Most SHIELD agents I see in the field, as we know, are much younger and have much less experience. It was inspiring.

    "As per the report minutes, we touched down outside of the town in the - ah, Bus - and investigated largely plainclothes. We were, of course, not expecting to find the town largely pacified and emotionally suppressed, but a visit to the local cafe allowed Agent May to perceive the effect and relate this to us. My alternative background brought me to think that psychic suppression of some sort might be involved, but I also did not rule out clonal replacements or synthetic replacements. Agent Coulson asked me to get readings on the soil and water as well as the general area while Agent May went out to explore the town. While I was away, he was apparently questioned as to where his friends - us being 'outsiders' - went, and he distracted them with an emotional display which I felt was quite clever. Meanwhile, I was able to determine the location of a geological void under the town, trace metals in the soil not native to the planet, and a network of mycellium radiating from the void bearng a cellular structure also not normal to fungi on this planet to my knowledge."

    He draws a breath. "Of course, I reported this. We converged upon a spot where I had detected a maintenance tunnel into a sewer system beneath the normal drains - likely some secondary construction or abandoned project - and we proceeded downward, wherein, after a time, we discovered an extraterrestrial plant (for lack of better nomenclature) which appeared to have landed here an indeterminate time ago in the bottom of a crater. We proceeded to begin damaging it. As we did, the townsfolk converged on our location, and while Agent Coulson began to hold them off I asked Agent May to assist him as I could destroy the bulb as Agents May and Coulson determined was the best course. I severed the root bulb, and the apparent controlling effect the plant had on the populace was broken. Agent Coulson then began to oversee the containment procedure." He clucks his tongue, then. "It was a perfect SHIELD operation. By the books."

Peggy Carter has posed:
A very curious expression shifts over Peggy's features. She doesn't respond immediately, but leans forward to scoop up her mug of tea now that it's been poured. She nurses the thing delicately between her fingertips, not quite drinking yet but savouring the warmth and steam. "Michael... I am curious how that was your frank and open version of a report? It seems quite SHIELD acceptable."

Then her dark eyes turn curiously to May, her head tilting, "And is he missing anything I should be alerted to? How did the team function? What is the likelyhood that these mind-controlling bulb plants are elsewhere?"

Melinda May has posed:
"There's a containment and cleanup crew on site, now," May tells Peggy. "Phil's riding herd." Not unexpected. "The working theory is that the thing used spores to control people -- kinda like that fungus that creates zombie ants." That's how it was explained to her. "Now that the... what? Root ball? Alien plant brain? Anyway. Now that it's gone, its victims are recovering. As for how likely there are more?" She sighs. "We have no clue. We've put a team of botanists and biologists on the task. They're doing an analysis. When they've submitted their opinion, I'll let you know."

She passes a mug of hot water to Michael and then takes her own mug to her desk, where she settles into the chair. "The best I can tell you is that the thing was sentient enough that it had emotions and I could sense them -- albeit by proxy. Through its victims. So, it's quite possible we killed an intelligent lifeform without even beginning to try to understand it. I'm not sure, though, that we really had a good alternative; not if it was taking over people. It had three of our agents in thrall."

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "Well, I just wanted to take a moment to catch my breath, Chief." A faint wink shot the woman's way, but it is gone in a moment. He takes the mug, a grateful nod given to May, and continues. "Agent May highlights my only divergence. Imperial intelligence doctrine mandates that if a new species, especially one who demonstrates abilities that could be either dangerous to the Empire or harnessed as a weapon in its defense, is discovered it must be taken into custody as a top priority. I absolutely understand Agent May and Agent Coulson's logic in having us put the createure down, but I feel that SHIELD would benefit from protocols that its agents can follow to approach this sort of thing differently in future. As Agent May says, the creature might have been sentient; military value aside, this may have been a tragic accident rather than simply destroying a mindless threat."

    He looks, then, to May. "And I, of course, owe you an apology for not raising the point at the time - however, there were two agents in the field, and I am just a consultant. It would not have been the time or place, given, as you say, civilians and agents alike were in danger."

Peggy Carter has posed:
Peggy nods in approval to May's commentary about how they are cleaning up the mess. The study of it was going to be her next question, but May's laid it all out quite well. She leans back a bit deeper, crossing her legs as she brings her tea to rest neatly in her lap. A long, slow sigh escapes her nose at the thought of the creature being intelligent and maybe their being other protocols.

"Honestly, Michael, Commander May handled it exactly as protocols would dictate -- alien creature or not. If that was a human, or even humanoid creature, who was taking over the minds of dozens of people, including our agents, and showed no wilingness to treat, putting the thing down was self defense. We do not have a policy of shoot first, ask questions later. Hell, we've developed an entire range of fire arms to be tranqualizers and not lethal. But there is always a time for self defense and, in this instance, the Commander made the right call. But... I will review our documentation for dealing with alien life forms to ensure there is clarity in this."

Melinda May has posed:
May isn't really certain how well they were honestly able to treat with the creature. What she and Phil knew at the time was that their agents were being used by the creature as a delaying action. And that the thing was slowly gathering a whole army of thralls. Including Senator McMahon's daughter and son-in-law.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you hear from Senator McMahon," she tells her friend, perhaps wincing a little as she senses the inevitable distaste that will elicit from the chief. "He was there early on, advocating we completely raze the town and sterilize the area. I'm pretty sure Phil talked him down, but..." She shrugs. Politicians. What can you do?

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "Understand," he says, lifting a hand. "I am not, in /any/ way, criticising Agents May and Coulson. They were perfect in the situation. I'm simply coming from a place that is extremely experienced with alien life of many different kinds; SHIELD, as a rule, is not. Please understand, this was not in any sort of way a bad operation, nor am I saying so. It's just a different point of view. Obviously I'm willing to assist if need be. I try not the be the sort to point something out without being willing to be a part of a potential solution."

    At the sound of politics, Michael makes a faint sour face and then goes to drink his hot water.

Peggy Carter has posed:
A faint wince crosses Peggy's features as May mentions Senator McMahon. Peg drowns that expression in a deep sip of her tea now that it is a little more drinkable in temperature. She then mutters quietly, "He can join the line. I and the Pentagon aren't seeing eye to eye this week." The frustration and stress Peggy was feeling when she first came in flares for a moment, but she swallows it back down with a gulp of tea.

Then Michael makes his clarity about not criticizing May and Phil. Peggy gives him a slight nod, though her expression is a bit more tempered and serious now. "I understand. I just think you will be surprised about the documentation we already have in place. Even with Alien species, our policies are NOT to shoot first and ask later. SHIELD was set up to deal with supernatural issues and extra terrestial ones. We have such policies in place, we simply don't get many chances to *use* them. But, as I said, if you write something up, I will read it over and incorporate any changes I see would be a good fit for us and you."

Melinda May has posed:
May takes a swallow of her own tea before placing the mug down on the desktop. "The fact is," she says dryly, "there's still a lot about the situation we need clarified. Our agents are in the infirmary, now, undergoing detox and evaluation. How long that plant was there, though? We don't know. There's an agricorp involved in the mix, too, that will probably require further inquiry. They were buying up land all across the region -- and they got almost all the people they bought from to stay on and continue working. So, this could go deeper than we know. The plant may be propagating unconventionally."

She gives Peggy a wry, empathetic smile. "You know it's never simple when aliens get involved." She glances to Michael. "No offense." it's not like she can talk. Not with her Inhuman genes.

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "No offense taken," Michael replies, grinning faintly. "And I also know that my training would make a GRU officer blush. So I tend to err on the side of being quiet, because I tend to raise eyebrows when I don't."

    That said, he takes another sip of hot water. "It's entirely possible that the corporation knew of its existence and has been tampering with it. Not knowing anything about the base species, I can't answer myself - but I've had more than enough experience with private individuals and corporations dicking about with technology and organisms from off world that it wouldn't remotely surprise me."

Peggy Carter has posed:
A quiet nod comes from the Chief, "It sounds like everyone did the right thing and there is little more we can do until we get more reports back from the scientists. But if we don't have a whole team of analysists on that agricorp, I'll get a team on them as well. With this being an alien plant, the... Possibility that the corporation has been infiltrated by an alien as well, one who knows how to control the plants and has been spreading them, isn't one we can dismiss from the table. But... it feels like we are as on top of everything as we can be. So, good job, both of you." Peggy gives them an appreciative, if tired, smile. She almost dreads going back to her office.

Melinda May has posed:
May nods. "The initial reports are all filed. As more information comes in, we'll respond as appropriate." It's all they can do. Because there's no shortage of crises for them to handle.

"If you have any other questions, Chief, we can answer them, but I think we've covered most of it." And she knows Peggy is busy. She's happy to prolong the meeting if she wants, but it's not likely going to help.

Michael Erickson has posed:
    "Of course, Chief." He gives Carter a brief smile before going back to his hot water, and letting Peggy flee to certain torment. Waiting, of course, for what he obviously believes to be more talk post-Carter with a potentially irritable May.

Peggy Carter has posed:
With the report done and little more excuse for her to stay, Peggy takes a long, deep drink of her tea, nearly finishing it in a few gulps, before setting it down on the woman's desk. "I appreciate the personal report. It's always nice to hear things instead of read a page. You both know where to find me should you need me. Be safe out there. And... get ready for more work come the new year. Something down the pipeline in a few days." Peggy's voice is as much a promise as it is a warning. She then turns on the ball of her foot and heads out the door.