A Pheromonal Christmas Time
Dec. 25th, 2021 08:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsKevin and Marie-Ange dig further into the situation with Laurie and don't like what they find.
Christmas Day. Only Kevin would be at work on Christmas Day. His text asking Marie-Ange to join him would have been a surprise from anyone else. New York seemed like it was taking the day off as a whole, the streets quiet and even when collecting her coffee downstairs, conversations were muted and low.
As she arrived, she found Kevin in his office. Next to his laptop was a phone, a tablet and a notebook, all she could identify as Darcy's. He'd been tightlipped about her after his post regarding her leave of absence, other than to send her a little more information that she was safe.
"Thanks for coming in." He said, taking a long sip from his coffee.
"Good morning." Marie-Ange had poured herself a rare second cup of coffee before knocking on the open doorway to Kevin's office and had the mug in both hands as if to ward off some of the lingering winter chill. "This is early for us to meet." True to the winter weather and looser schedule of the holidays, Marie-Ange was bundled into a thick sweater and jeans, still in a pair of winter boots with fur at the top. "I am presumptuous to assume this is about Darcy?"
"Yeah. I tossed her room and broke into her phone and tablet a couple of days ago and I think I've found something." Kevin said. He flipped open the notebook, fingers following the lines of shorthand Darcy used. "Take a look at these entries-" He said, and then flipped a couple of pages. "-and now this one. See the difference?"
"Drunk handwriting. I do not know her note taking that well, but that is drunk handwriting. Or stoned." Marie-Ange made a gesture at Kevin and at his nod, came around to his side of the desk to look at the pages right-side up. "This cannot just be the job stress. It would understand if it was after Baltimore, but the dates do not match up."
"Guess what the dates add up to?" Kevin said, hitting a few keys. Her electronic diary popped up on his screen. "Every day of the changed writing lines up with one of Laurie's therapy sessions."
"How long. How long was Laurie manipulating Darcy?" It did not take much to put the pieces together. Darcy's headaches, the powers accident they'd talked about on the journals. "Before or after she came to work here?" Marie-Ange picked up the notebook and flipped through the pages. "After. It started after, her handwriting does not start to break down until October, and it never quite gets better. Why Darcy though? Opportunity?"
"Cover. Remember Darcy's power accident? I got her to admit it was Laurie all along and she was covering for her. What if that was the start?" Kevin said. "If she was covering for Laurie, the power requirements might have gone up and up."
"So this is covering just gotten out of hand? No. No people do not skip off to a… whatever Essex is after a powers accident. There has to be more to this." Marie-Ange glanced at the sideboard, considered a drink and then shook her head with a frown. "I may be biased where Laurie Collins is concerned, but this does not seem like simple trauma."
"That was my thought. We know she asked Sefton about magical avenues of healing. Darcy was running all kinds of searches for similar medical options off hours, I assume for her. Considering her injuries, it's not a leap to think that she was willing to make a deal with a guy she knows is lightyears ahead of anyone else in genetics to fix her." Kevin tapped another couple of keys on his computer, and their inhouse tracking program popped up. "I was already suspicious, so after Laurie flounced, I started tracking her. Boarded a flight to Miami early the next morning. Checked into her room. Looks like she took a walk. And then her cell signal disappears. I bribed one of the maids to check in the unit for me. No Laurie, no luggage. Only thing left was the letter Darcy wrote to her. Not a single bit of activity since. She's vanished, and someone with professional skills is helping her stay that way."
"And it is Essex, so I get nothing from readings, the telepaths cannot find him even with Cerebro, he is a big void and always has been." The drink was looking more and more inviting, but the chair was more so, and Marie-Ange slumped down into it. "You have read on what he did in Genosha, yes? Essex had Laurie once, he turned her - and others - into killing machines. Mutants that hunted other mutants. I imagine once he has someone's genetic information like that, it is easy enough to do it again."
"The science reads more like science fiction to me. But based on what the files say, I think it is safe to say he's likely got the abilities to give her what she wants. The big question is why?" Kevin rubbed his jaw. "According to this, he already had Collins' genetic material. And every single incident you people have logged with him as always had some larger purpose involved. If he wanted to make killing machines, he's had the ability to do it for years and never did. Why now and why Laurie specifically? There's a key piece of the puzzle messing that puts all this together and... we don't fucking have it." He slammed his fist down on the desk.
"Laurie was willing. Perhaps that's all he needed? A willing compatriot instead of someone who has to be brainwashed. This is not the first time he has done..." Marie-Ange grimaced. "Did you ever meet Rachel? She was.. one of the refugees from before M-Day, and I do not know all the details but Essex manipulated her through an entire false childhood, an entire artificial psionic universe on an accelerated timescale. She was I think three when he got ahold of her, and in her twenties when she came back, all within a year... It failed. Maybe he wants someone willing this time."
"Hopefully Lewis can provide some more clues once she's got all the junk Collins pushed into her head cleared up." Kevin sat back, resigned.
"Darcy's headaches... " Marie-Ange said. "Laurie's power is addictive. God, she is even open about it. I know she is ..." She huffed, ungraceful and frustrated. "She is self-centered, and uses people like her personal test subjects. I thought it was just her personality, bossiness pushed into..." Marie-Ange waved a hand. "You know the stereotype, surgeons thinking they are god. So, going to Essex almost makes sense, in hindsight. Essex offers to fix her arm in exchange for... what? Her providing him with test subjects? What is Essex after here, what does he get out of this besides Laurie?"
"That's the hole. Until we can fill that in, there's no way to know." Kevin got up and poured two drinks, handing one over to her. "Fuck it, it's the holidays. We're being festive." He muttered before taking a sip.
"You know I never even liked whiskey or scotch before you worked here?" Marie-Ange took the glass, and then a sip. "And now my google history has whiskey stones in it.." She paused. "I am not your secret Santa." she added hastily. "I bought Jubilee an alpaca farm. Well, shares. She gets wool every month. Did Darcy let you know when she would return?"
"No, but I'll check in on her. She's with... friends. They'll make sure she's taken care of so she can focus on getting her head on straight."
"Good. If you can pass a message, if she wants it and is at all worried, she still has a job. Most She will not be the first or last of us to have trusted the wrong person."
"I didn't wait on you for that." Kevin said. "We don't abandon people. Why do you think I was willing to work for you?"
"I thought it was my legs in mini skirts."
"I like a pretty girl, but I'm prettier than you all in a heartbeat." Kevin said, obviously annoyed by the situation and not her joke. "Something bad is happening right now and I can't figure it out. I fucking hate that."
Marie-Ange nodded. "Same. There is no way this ends well, and I cannot predict any of it." She waved a hand. "Not even speaking about the precognition. I have no idea where this goes. Essex has always been a blank in our intelligence."
"Well, we're stuck until Darcy shakes loose more information. So, Merry Christmas to us." He said with a wry toast of his glass.
Marie-Ange raised her glass in return and drained half. "Remind me to tell you about the Christmas we were all stuck in quarantine. Somehow we did not burn the building down, or kill each other."
Christmas Day. Only Kevin would be at work on Christmas Day. His text asking Marie-Ange to join him would have been a surprise from anyone else. New York seemed like it was taking the day off as a whole, the streets quiet and even when collecting her coffee downstairs, conversations were muted and low.
As she arrived, she found Kevin in his office. Next to his laptop was a phone, a tablet and a notebook, all she could identify as Darcy's. He'd been tightlipped about her after his post regarding her leave of absence, other than to send her a little more information that she was safe.
"Thanks for coming in." He said, taking a long sip from his coffee.
"Good morning." Marie-Ange had poured herself a rare second cup of coffee before knocking on the open doorway to Kevin's office and had the mug in both hands as if to ward off some of the lingering winter chill. "This is early for us to meet." True to the winter weather and looser schedule of the holidays, Marie-Ange was bundled into a thick sweater and jeans, still in a pair of winter boots with fur at the top. "I am presumptuous to assume this is about Darcy?"
"Yeah. I tossed her room and broke into her phone and tablet a couple of days ago and I think I've found something." Kevin said. He flipped open the notebook, fingers following the lines of shorthand Darcy used. "Take a look at these entries-" He said, and then flipped a couple of pages. "-and now this one. See the difference?"
"Drunk handwriting. I do not know her note taking that well, but that is drunk handwriting. Or stoned." Marie-Ange made a gesture at Kevin and at his nod, came around to his side of the desk to look at the pages right-side up. "This cannot just be the job stress. It would understand if it was after Baltimore, but the dates do not match up."
"Guess what the dates add up to?" Kevin said, hitting a few keys. Her electronic diary popped up on his screen. "Every day of the changed writing lines up with one of Laurie's therapy sessions."
"How long. How long was Laurie manipulating Darcy?" It did not take much to put the pieces together. Darcy's headaches, the powers accident they'd talked about on the journals. "Before or after she came to work here?" Marie-Ange picked up the notebook and flipped through the pages. "After. It started after, her handwriting does not start to break down until October, and it never quite gets better. Why Darcy though? Opportunity?"
"Cover. Remember Darcy's power accident? I got her to admit it was Laurie all along and she was covering for her. What if that was the start?" Kevin said. "If she was covering for Laurie, the power requirements might have gone up and up."
"So this is covering just gotten out of hand? No. No people do not skip off to a… whatever Essex is after a powers accident. There has to be more to this." Marie-Ange glanced at the sideboard, considered a drink and then shook her head with a frown. "I may be biased where Laurie Collins is concerned, but this does not seem like simple trauma."
"That was my thought. We know she asked Sefton about magical avenues of healing. Darcy was running all kinds of searches for similar medical options off hours, I assume for her. Considering her injuries, it's not a leap to think that she was willing to make a deal with a guy she knows is lightyears ahead of anyone else in genetics to fix her." Kevin tapped another couple of keys on his computer, and their inhouse tracking program popped up. "I was already suspicious, so after Laurie flounced, I started tracking her. Boarded a flight to Miami early the next morning. Checked into her room. Looks like she took a walk. And then her cell signal disappears. I bribed one of the maids to check in the unit for me. No Laurie, no luggage. Only thing left was the letter Darcy wrote to her. Not a single bit of activity since. She's vanished, and someone with professional skills is helping her stay that way."
"And it is Essex, so I get nothing from readings, the telepaths cannot find him even with Cerebro, he is a big void and always has been." The drink was looking more and more inviting, but the chair was more so, and Marie-Ange slumped down into it. "You have read on what he did in Genosha, yes? Essex had Laurie once, he turned her - and others - into killing machines. Mutants that hunted other mutants. I imagine once he has someone's genetic information like that, it is easy enough to do it again."
"The science reads more like science fiction to me. But based on what the files say, I think it is safe to say he's likely got the abilities to give her what she wants. The big question is why?" Kevin rubbed his jaw. "According to this, he already had Collins' genetic material. And every single incident you people have logged with him as always had some larger purpose involved. If he wanted to make killing machines, he's had the ability to do it for years and never did. Why now and why Laurie specifically? There's a key piece of the puzzle messing that puts all this together and... we don't fucking have it." He slammed his fist down on the desk.
"Laurie was willing. Perhaps that's all he needed? A willing compatriot instead of someone who has to be brainwashed. This is not the first time he has done..." Marie-Ange grimaced. "Did you ever meet Rachel? She was.. one of the refugees from before M-Day, and I do not know all the details but Essex manipulated her through an entire false childhood, an entire artificial psionic universe on an accelerated timescale. She was I think three when he got ahold of her, and in her twenties when she came back, all within a year... It failed. Maybe he wants someone willing this time."
"Hopefully Lewis can provide some more clues once she's got all the junk Collins pushed into her head cleared up." Kevin sat back, resigned.
"Darcy's headaches... " Marie-Ange said. "Laurie's power is addictive. God, she is even open about it. I know she is ..." She huffed, ungraceful and frustrated. "She is self-centered, and uses people like her personal test subjects. I thought it was just her personality, bossiness pushed into..." Marie-Ange waved a hand. "You know the stereotype, surgeons thinking they are god. So, going to Essex almost makes sense, in hindsight. Essex offers to fix her arm in exchange for... what? Her providing him with test subjects? What is Essex after here, what does he get out of this besides Laurie?"
"That's the hole. Until we can fill that in, there's no way to know." Kevin got up and poured two drinks, handing one over to her. "Fuck it, it's the holidays. We're being festive." He muttered before taking a sip.
"You know I never even liked whiskey or scotch before you worked here?" Marie-Ange took the glass, and then a sip. "And now my google history has whiskey stones in it.." She paused. "I am not your secret Santa." she added hastily. "I bought Jubilee an alpaca farm. Well, shares. She gets wool every month. Did Darcy let you know when she would return?"
"No, but I'll check in on her. She's with... friends. They'll make sure she's taken care of so she can focus on getting her head on straight."
"Good. If you can pass a message, if she wants it and is at all worried, she still has a job. Most She will not be the first or last of us to have trusted the wrong person."
"I didn't wait on you for that." Kevin said. "We don't abandon people. Why do you think I was willing to work for you?"
"I thought it was my legs in mini skirts."
"I like a pretty girl, but I'm prettier than you all in a heartbeat." Kevin said, obviously annoyed by the situation and not her joke. "Something bad is happening right now and I can't figure it out. I fucking hate that."
Marie-Ange nodded. "Same. There is no way this ends well, and I cannot predict any of it." She waved a hand. "Not even speaking about the precognition. I have no idea where this goes. Essex has always been a blank in our intelligence."
"Well, we're stuck until Darcy shakes loose more information. So, Merry Christmas to us." He said with a wry toast of his glass.
Marie-Ange raised her glass in return and drained half. "Remind me to tell you about the Christmas we were all stuck in quarantine. Somehow we did not burn the building down, or kill each other."
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Date: 2021-12-25 11:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-12-27 06:05 am (UTC)