001 | Video | Day 136

[chimaerical]

[She’d tried handling things covertly at first. After all, you didn’t draw unnecessary attention to yourself if you didn’t have to, right? First rule of being a cat burglar – except that didn’t exactly apply here, since she hadn’t gone out of her way to break in. She never broke into a place she couldn’t get out of, and as far as she could tell, this place didn’t have an exit. Not that she could find, anyway, and she’d searched damn near everywhere.

That meant it was time to turn her attention elsewhere. Whoever had brought her here had done good work, managing to knock her out so thoroughly that she didn’t remember. Sounded a whole lot like Manticore, but she’d burned the last facility they’d dragged her into to the ground. If any stray remnants of the organization were still kicking, she doubts they would be this sloppy.

They’d left her a phone. She was damn well going to use it.]

Consider this a public service announcement for anyone out there who gives a damn. Me and labs? We don’t exactly mesh.

[She’s seen enough of them to last her several lifetimes, thanks.]

Oh, I know, blowing hot air around isn’t going to impress anyone, but I’m not looking to impress. This is a warning. The last facility that tried to lock me up became a pile of ashes pretty damn quick.

[She’ll get out. Manticore had seemed impossible to escape, but she’d managed it all the same – twice. She could pull it off again, even if she didn’t have an accomplice this time. She’d manage.]

You labcoat types never learn, do you? You’re never gonna break me, and that’s not a challenge. That’s just fact. So I hope you’re listening, because you’re going to seriously regret trying to cage me. I’ve yet to come up against a cage that’s strong enough to hold.

Comments

video of course

[venatical]

It'd be a shame to burn this place down before we find, you know, somewhere else to go. [ It's not like anyone's done any close examinations of the woods outside, though Dean's heard there's a way outside. ]

'Sides, I haven't seen any labcoat types around here, not anymore. They packed up shop.

yessssss

[chimaerical]

There's always somewhere else to go.

[She says that with certainty. During the great escape twelve years ago, she'd been of the same mind - escape to what? It had been worse, considering none of those kids had ever known anything beyond Manticore's walls. All they knew was that escaping had to be better than staying there. The world outside had to be better.]

You really think they're not watching from somewhere else?

[She sounds dubious, but she moves on to another topic just as quickly, narrowing her eyes. Alec had given her a heads-up about this one.]

You look a whole lot like a friend of mine. Couple of friends, in fact.

[Alec. Her brother, Ben. How many times had Ben been copied?]

[venatical]

Yeah, I'm sure there is, but we haven't found it yet. Maybe hold off on the arson until we get that far. [ The scientists had to go somewhere, after all. And people are still getting pulled somewhere when they disappear -- and he wonders if that's where Sam and Charlie are now, and when he might get to see them again. He's motivated to get out of here, that's for sure. ]

They probably are, though they've gotten a lot more subtle about their surveillance.

[ He raises his eyebrows. ] Couple of friends? Two of us aren't enough?

[chimaerical]

Technically, letting the last lab's self-destruct mechanism detonate doesn't really count as arson. Any idea who 'they' are?

[She's not arguing the logic, she's just saying.

He gets a wry smirk in reply. Trust her. Two is more than enough.]

Honestly, the first one was already more than I could handle.

[venatical]

Buncha scientists who only know a little bit more than we do, so you know, extra dangerous. [ More poking and prodding, more random stabs in the dark that wind up being pretty disastrous. ]

Wait, back up. Who was the first? [ Haven't enough people worn his freaking face? ] I'm pretty sure I'm the original here.

[chimaerical]

[Her expression hardens, just a little.]

Nobody you know. He's not here.

[And they're all probably better for it.]

My brother.

[venatical]

[ Awkward. Now he feels almost bad for his face. ]

Sorry. I don't know why this face is so popular; there were a couple me's running around where I'm from too, though mostly they didn't last long. And in some other universe I'm some actor named Jansport. [ Somewhere along the line, that started as a half-remembered joke. Now he genuinely thinks that's the name of the actor that plays him in that weird place Balthazar sent them. ]

[chimaerical]

Manticore seemed to like it, too.

[Just one was not enough, apparently -- hence Alec's existance. Of course, they couldn't seem to get enough of her, either. Ben wasn't the only one they'd seen fit to copy.]

Are we talking about cloning, here?

[Because she knows she is.]

[venatical]

Um, no. [ Cloning? Jeez. ]

Skinwalker. Couple of Leviathans... Alternate timeline, once. No sheep, just monsters who like to play copycat. And, uh, angels who like to mess with your head.

[chimaerical]

For the record, they gave up on cloning sheep ages ago. They're onto cats and dogs now. And, you know. People.

[One look at her face should be enough to tell him she's not joking.]

Monsters. [She wrinkles her nose a little. She's not a fan of the word.] Do you mean mutants?

[Or possibly transgenics who didn't come out quite right? She can only remember how many people who caught a glimpse of Joshua must have thought he was a monster.]

[venatical]

[ Well, he'll buy that. He doesn't think he's jerking her around.

Her question surprises him a little bit. ]

No, monsters. I mean, I guess some of 'em were mutants. [ Back when Eve was playing with genetics. ]

Werewolves, vampires, demons. I'm not kidding around when I say that.

[chimaerical]

[She purses her lips a little bit -- not quite skeptical, but trying to decide whether or not he's being serious or trying to defend the word 'monster' as slang. A little more explanation goes a long way, however, and she nods.]

Sounds like you're dealing with a whole world o' crazy on a regular basis, too.

[Sorry to hear it, bro, although she's still suspicious. For reasons.]

Mutants are just like everyone else. The rest-- can't speak for them. The only vampire I've ever seen was a mutant, too.

[venatical]

[ No, suspicion is reasonable, though it does seem kind of weird. He's telling her vampires are real, and it's not like -- he doesn't think she's skeptical that he's lying about that, but more skeptical about what is real, what the monsters are really. ]

Nah, these were more like... They had vamp teeth and a spike coming out of their wrists like a wraith. Their demon mommy was getting creative.

Sounds like you run into a more colorful population of people on the regular too.

[chimaerical]

Girl like me gets around.

[No, not that way.]

Terminal City is a crazy place these days. All sorts of fun people on the loose.