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xp_logsEmma, Marie-Ange, Ororo and Wade share information. Vanessa is still missing, Genosha has some questionable practices and there are rumors that the Brotherhood has infiltrated. That can't possibly be good.
The Hammer Bay Marriott was a perfect example of transplanted culture. If you blotted out the surrounding skyline, it could have just as easily been one of their hotels in Kansas City or Des Moines, as opposed to on a tropical island on the other side of the world. However, that familiarity did have an advantage to travelers, in knowing that inside would be all the normal comforts and services they were used to. For tourists, it was a kind of global safety blanket for the timid. For spies, it was an invaluably drab and boring consistency of resources.
The business centre was moderately busy, most of the patrons in suits and working on their own laptops. The demographics were skewed towards Asian, as Pacific Rim investors scrambled to take advantage of Genosha's energy wealth. A steady flow of people coming and going rendered the traffic anonymous, and a corner table was enough to prevent eavesdropping.
"I am sorry, I do not have very much. I lost too many hours trying to find Vanessa." Marie-Ange rubbed her face tiredly. "All I am being told is rumors of mutant terrorists, perhaps Magneto or the Brotherhood here." She pushed away the cooling cup of tea she'd made that had done her no good. "But there is little but rumors. No one seems to have confirmation that the Brotherhood is here, and I would think they would make themselves known, yes?"
Wade leaned back in his chair and polished off the Continental breakfast buffet's last croissant sans butter, then reached for his coffee as he scanned the people moving through the room. "Just bits and pieces at the moment," he said, coffee cup raised to cover his lips as he spoke. "Overheard a guard say he was on duty when our people came in. Said he'd been told to hit a young, female terrorist. Didn't sit well with him, apparently."
"But I'm sure that didn't stop him doing it," murmured Emma, dryly. A small telepathic pulse, equivalent to ~look over there!~ made even the uninterested patrons nearby turn away from the group as Emma spoke. "Doug and I have managed to get hold of some public records which we're working through to see if we can find something of value. Blueprints of some government buildings, things like that. A few interesting medical reports that have been buried very deeply. And one interesting titbit when I was working my way to those medical reports; according to the doctor I was - let's call it interrogating - the mutate process pacifies prisoners. I'm not sure to what extent, because neither did he, but it's fairly common knowledge in the right circles that mutates are very docile. Which carries just a lovely hint of livestock, doesn't it?" Emma allowed just the slightest hint of bitterness to tinge those words.
"We were aware these people were not well-disposed towards mutants before," Ororo murmured, "we cannot allow this confirmation to cloud our planning. My investigations were largely dead-ended but I did manage to uncover the fact that there was a full alert at the Citadel that coincides with the day of the kidnapping - not concrete proof, perhaps, but another piece of evidence. What we must do now is continue to add these pieces together - the rumours and facts alike - until we can see the most likely thread to follow."
"That seems to meet up with the rumor about the Brotherhood." Marie-Ange looked at her cup of tea, shrugged and then stole Wade's coffee. "Terrorists, they go on alert, I think we have all seen this before in the news and history books, no?" She gulped at the coffee, pulled a face that said "How on earth are you drinking this?" and set it down. "I would like to know how many of the prisoners were protesting how mutants are treated here? North Korea, China, the Soviet Republic, it is not the first time a country used political prisoners as slaves."
Nudging the sugar over toward Marie-Ange, Wade shrugged. "And it won't be the last," he said. "So we've got possible Brotherhood activity in the area, guards hitting prisoners they believe to be terrorists, a government sanctioned process 'pacifying' prisoners, and a full alert at their base of operations on the day our people were taken. Question - what did their full alert entail?" The mercenary looked toward Ororo. "Do you have any specifics?"
Ororo smiled grimly and gave a shake of her head. "You know all I do. If there was ever a sign that we still had our work cut out for us... this is it. The coffee break is over, I'm afraid. Let's get back to work."
The Hammer Bay Marriott was a perfect example of transplanted culture. If you blotted out the surrounding skyline, it could have just as easily been one of their hotels in Kansas City or Des Moines, as opposed to on a tropical island on the other side of the world. However, that familiarity did have an advantage to travelers, in knowing that inside would be all the normal comforts and services they were used to. For tourists, it was a kind of global safety blanket for the timid. For spies, it was an invaluably drab and boring consistency of resources.
The business centre was moderately busy, most of the patrons in suits and working on their own laptops. The demographics were skewed towards Asian, as Pacific Rim investors scrambled to take advantage of Genosha's energy wealth. A steady flow of people coming and going rendered the traffic anonymous, and a corner table was enough to prevent eavesdropping.
"I am sorry, I do not have very much. I lost too many hours trying to find Vanessa." Marie-Ange rubbed her face tiredly. "All I am being told is rumors of mutant terrorists, perhaps Magneto or the Brotherhood here." She pushed away the cooling cup of tea she'd made that had done her no good. "But there is little but rumors. No one seems to have confirmation that the Brotherhood is here, and I would think they would make themselves known, yes?"
Wade leaned back in his chair and polished off the Continental breakfast buffet's last croissant sans butter, then reached for his coffee as he scanned the people moving through the room. "Just bits and pieces at the moment," he said, coffee cup raised to cover his lips as he spoke. "Overheard a guard say he was on duty when our people came in. Said he'd been told to hit a young, female terrorist. Didn't sit well with him, apparently."
"But I'm sure that didn't stop him doing it," murmured Emma, dryly. A small telepathic pulse, equivalent to ~look over there!~ made even the uninterested patrons nearby turn away from the group as Emma spoke. "Doug and I have managed to get hold of some public records which we're working through to see if we can find something of value. Blueprints of some government buildings, things like that. A few interesting medical reports that have been buried very deeply. And one interesting titbit when I was working my way to those medical reports; according to the doctor I was - let's call it interrogating - the mutate process pacifies prisoners. I'm not sure to what extent, because neither did he, but it's fairly common knowledge in the right circles that mutates are very docile. Which carries just a lovely hint of livestock, doesn't it?" Emma allowed just the slightest hint of bitterness to tinge those words.
"We were aware these people were not well-disposed towards mutants before," Ororo murmured, "we cannot allow this confirmation to cloud our planning. My investigations were largely dead-ended but I did manage to uncover the fact that there was a full alert at the Citadel that coincides with the day of the kidnapping - not concrete proof, perhaps, but another piece of evidence. What we must do now is continue to add these pieces together - the rumours and facts alike - until we can see the most likely thread to follow."
"That seems to meet up with the rumor about the Brotherhood." Marie-Ange looked at her cup of tea, shrugged and then stole Wade's coffee. "Terrorists, they go on alert, I think we have all seen this before in the news and history books, no?" She gulped at the coffee, pulled a face that said "How on earth are you drinking this?" and set it down. "I would like to know how many of the prisoners were protesting how mutants are treated here? North Korea, China, the Soviet Republic, it is not the first time a country used political prisoners as slaves."
Nudging the sugar over toward Marie-Ange, Wade shrugged. "And it won't be the last," he said. "So we've got possible Brotherhood activity in the area, guards hitting prisoners they believe to be terrorists, a government sanctioned process 'pacifying' prisoners, and a full alert at their base of operations on the day our people were taken. Question - what did their full alert entail?" The mercenary looked toward Ororo. "Do you have any specifics?"
Ororo smiled grimly and gave a shake of her head. "You know all I do. If there was ever a sign that we still had our work cut out for us... this is it. The coffee break is over, I'm afraid. Let's get back to work."
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