Backdated: Mel Gets the Tour

Mel's survived her first few days at X-Force and Amanda decides it's time she saw the magical storeroom.

"Mel, right?" The voice definitely had an accent, something like one of those cop shows set in London where everyone was surly and used words like "guv". It belonged to the blonde woman standing by Mel's desk. She hadn't crossed Mel's field of vision from the elevator, so she must have come from the offices on the other side. When Mel looked up, she stuck her hand out in greeting. "'M Amanda."

An equally accented voice answered her, standing up to shake Amanda's hand. "That's me! It's nice to meet ya. Er- professionally anyhow." They'd probably crossed paths at some point, but there were so many people in her orbit now, it was hard for Mel to keep track. "Anythin' I can do fer you? Travel arrangements, package, coffee?"

"Actually, it's more about what I can do for you," Amanda replied with a grin. "Angie asked me to give you the penny tour of the weird shite division. You got some time now?"

Mel glanced at the calendar and to-do list on her interface. "Yup, I ain't got anythin' pressin'." Or anything that couldn't be done in an hour. "I finally get to see the magic stuff?"

"Don't get too excited, it's mostly dusty old books," laughed Amanda as she stepped back to let Mel come out from behind the reception desk. "But those can be a handful all by themselves." She began moving through the office, genturing at Mel to follow her. "How're you settling in?"

The other mutant tagged after her, cute but sensible heels clicking against the floor. “Oh I’ve been just swell. It’s a lot of the same stuff I do with Miss Hope, really. Though with less amuse-bouche.” And more fake passports.

Amanda chuckled. "Yeah, people tend to think this place is all high speed car chases, shootouts and magical duels. But it's really mostly boring paperwork and surveillance and way too much coffee. Not to mention research." As she spoke, she stopped at a heavy steel door, a hand scanner the only apparent access. "Here we are. The Weird Shite Room."

"Fancy," Mel murmured, eyeing the scanner with a subtle curiosity. "I didn't know those were actually a thing outside'a movies."

"We didn't use to, but then we had some Asgardian types and a demon break in and raid the place, so we went super secure for the rebuild," Amanda explained, pressing her hand on the scanner and waiting for it to cycle through and the door lock to click open. "Before that, we had a safe. Which turned out to be not very safe at all." The door slowly slid open, grinding across the floor and revealing a surprisingly large storeroom filled with heavily-loaded shelves. Mostly books, as Amanda had said, some actually chained to the shelves with steel cables and padlocks. But there were also all kinds of things - small figurines, crystals, archaic weapons, scrolls, even a human skull decorated with various sigils. The air was close with the smell of old books and dried plants and something else... not so much of a smell as a feeling, one that seemed to say: "Here Be Dragons".

A shiver seemed to run down her spine, alongside the urge to sneeze from the waft of book dust that accompanied the door being opened. It wouldn't come though, leaving Mel with that annoying tickle in her nose. "Well I'll be damned. How much y'all got in here?"

"Topaz has the exact numbers, but according to the reinforced floor, a couple of tonnes?" Amanda led the way into the space, her movement triggering the lights overhead. "Most of it is stuff we got from a pocket dimension-slash-magic library before it imploded, but some of it we begged, borrowed or stole. Mostly stole." She gestured at a row of books chained to the shelf. "We keep the nasty stuff here, out of reach of nosy students and people who missed the point of the "don't touch the magic thing" lecture we give at the mansion on the regular."

“Noted,” the younger woman said, keeping her hands firmly out of “touch the shiny rock” territory. “So if stuff were t’get loose it’s definitely run an’ let the magick-y people deal with it? Lest I get turned into a toad.”

"Well, since you're not a shapeshifter there's less chance of that, but yeah, if anything starts glowing, rattling or groaning, that's the cue to run and come get one of us - me, Clea, Topaz or Wanda. Or Cata, if we're not around - she might seem like a giant fluff ball, but she makes a pretty good guard... cat." Amanda grinned. "And she isn't influenced by voices from beyond."

"A very adorable guard cat." Mel took a moment to peer into a mirror hanging on the wall, only to jump back when her own reflection waved at her. "Eek! Yes. No voices, no bumps in the night."

"You've got it." Amanda radiated approval. "And considering you actually believe magic is real and are listening to me, you're ahead of the general learning curve." She bumped the taller woman with her shoulder. "How about lunch and a couple of pints at Finnegan's? You can ask me as many questions as you like.”

Melody grinned, partly at the feeling of doing well and partly at the mention of lunch. “I’m starving. Fer food an’ fer knowledge.”