010 || Sharon Carter || [video]

[agentx13]

First, I wanted to share a theory with you guys. [She holds up a bowl in her free hand and sets it on the table, turning her wristcomm so everyone can see. There's a glimpse of the kitchen of the house, some silverware bent into odd shapes on the counter and one cabinet door taken off completely. The mess is actually bigger than that, but Sharon moves the comm in such a way that the worst is hidden.] I think this is the barrier we're dealing with. Our environment is being controlled, obviously, and most of the deliveries are from above, far enough that we have no way of reaching it without technology, which we don't presently have. [Though she supposes they could use the Hulk. But she won't put that added pressure on Bruce yet. Yet.]

I suspect there are service entrances located at various points around the border, but we haven't yet been able to reach them. I'll keep looking into it, though.

Second, I'm disbanding what's left of SHIELD. I've already talked to its members and feel that it's the best thing for our current situation.

However, if you need anything, I'm still willing to offer my services. Just ask.

[Times like these, "Thank you" doesn't seem like the right thing to say. So instead instead she just cuts the feed and goes to put the bowl away. That's that.]

Comments

[agentx13]

Did someone tell you about Maria?

[ And quiet around the edges... Hmm... That sounds almost like psychic dampeners. Sharon doesn't have much experience with them herself, but she may have to learn. And learn fast. ]

Do you mean the edges of where we're allowed to go?

[enchangement]

Stood there and said she didn't deserve to die this way. Stood there and thought a traitor's death is well and good.

[ So. You know. No one TOLD her about Maria, per se. But she has found out. ]

Yes. Everything gets less.

[agentx13]

[ That sounded familiar. ]

Who thought that, River? About Maria?

[ Dampeners. Has to be. She'll have to talk to Tony about that. Dampeners would have to be placed around the perimeter... ]

How far can you go before you can't tell what other people are thinking?

[enchangement]

[ River reaches out and touches her fingers lightly to Sharon's chest. ] You did.

[ A slight shrug. ]

Didn't test it.

[agentx13]

You read... my thoughts.

[ That's both impressive and worrisome. Mostly worrisome. Maybe it's a different kind of telepathy than her training prepared her for? Are there different kinds? ]

Do you read minds on purpose, or is it more... they're just there?

[enchangement]

Just on, incoming, without cease question or pause.

They're there and it can't be helped. Stopped. Quieted.

[agentx13]

[ Though part of her wants to find a way to keep this girl out of her head and do it now, the greater part is inclined to be patient. And she is curious. Besides, perhaps there's no quick solution. She can't torture everyone for answers. ]

Does it hurt? Does it bother you?

[enchangement]

Sometimes. Always. [ River gives off a lose shrug. ] It is what it is and what it always has been.

Charles will help. [ Something of an afterthought, that. ]

[agentx13]

Charles Xavier? [Sharon nods to herself. She can't imagine anyone else River would mean.] He's a good man. At least, the one from my universe is. Have you met Mag- Erik, yet?

[enchangement]

Of course I have. [ River fixes Sharon with a look. ] The best and the worst of them both stands before you, not in literal genetics but in position and experience.

[agentx13]

That sounds like something I'd like to hear more about. [ She motions to the couch, though she has to clear it of clutter first. The Doctor is impossible when it comes to keeping the house clean. Of course, Sharon isn't necessarily much better, but that isn't the issue right now. ]

The best and the worst, huh? [Interesting. She'd never known Mag- Erik when he wasn't at his worst. He was usually either hiding out, killing people, or planning to kill them.]

[enchangement]

[ River follows but doesn't sit on the couch properly, instead perching on the back and putting her barefeet on top of the cushion. ]

Children are adjustable and programmable. Children of wealthy parents who are convinced their government know what's best are accessible. Children who are geniuses are useful.

Children are adjustable and programmable. Children can be taught, train, brainwashed, broken until they kill on command. Children are useful.

[ River tilts her head at Sharon. ]

[agentx13]

[ Sharon follows and sits in a chair nearby - sits properly, though she notes how River sits. Or rather, perches. She's listening, too, and her eyes settle sharply on River's face as the girl talks. ]

Is that what happened to you, River?

[enchangement]

Her brother got her out, but couldn't replace the broken parts. The little girl bot tended to reach critical failure and overheat. Found the virus, purged the exploit, current path of self-repair.

There are still parts missing but the bot chugs along. I think I can I think I can I think I can.

[ She lifts her shoulders and drops them. Not quite a shrug, because she's none too detached from this conversation, despite the way she's using her own words to create a buffer. ]

At least you won't say, 'oh no, how could they' because you know. They could because they could.

[agentx13]

[ Sharon is quiet for a long time after River finishes, hands folded together in her lap, her eyes steady on the girl. When she speaks, her voice is quiet. ]

I know how people could do that, yes. [ She clears her throat and points to her temple. ] Can you sense the part where I was brainwashed? I had a friend who was brainwashed, too. And both did things we hated. I killed the best man I ever knew, and I didn't even realize I'd done it until later. I killed other people, too. People that I cared about. [ She tries not to think of her unborn baby, but the thought rises up again. The stabbing, the hope that she would die, too. A year later remembering what she'd done. Her worst betrayal against Steve Rogers. Worse even than shooting him. She presses her lips together and tries to concentrate on the conversation. Thinking about her unborn child will never do anyone any good. ]

But my friend and I, we got better. People helped us. And I won't lie to you, River, there's only so much I can do to help you in this place. But I promise that whatever I can do, I will. I'm sorry you went through that, and I'm sorry you're going through this now, and I promise to do whatever I can to help.

[ Preferably without kicking someone out of a plane. ]

[enchangement]

[ River wonders if Sharon realizes how much of herself she exposes through these offers, slants of light like chips in ice filtering down to the life trapped in the frozen waters below. She thinks of the parts of her frozen and trapped from the rest of her, cold fingers ineffectively scraping against ice, and she wonders if that is how it feels to have something alive stolen from you.

Like waking up and realizing your brain is not the same way it was when you fell asleep and being unsure if it happened all at once or just gradually.

It may be the same, but it probably isn't, River decides. She knows what pain looks like and she knows that it takes a new face for every life loss disrupts. Everyone she knows has lost something and it changes the very essence of the people they are, it makes them who they are. Which brings her wandering mind, wearing a small circle into the threads of this couch, back to Erik and back to Sharon and back to now. ]

Plans in the process of being placed to paper. [ She just needs time to structure her request and just ask really. ] So this is how she knows and this is how she's the best and the worst, and this is how she fights to find balance in the life under glass.

Everything is hidden to us and everything is exposed to them. [ She gestures at the camera in the room. ]

[agentx13]

[ Sharon follows the gesture to the camera. A lifetime of training and habit keep River in her sights. ]

Not everything. Try as they might, they can't know all there is to know about us.

We're stronger than we think. [ She's known Steve, after all. She's seen how strong people can be, whether they have powers or abilities or no. She's seen what they're capable of. ] So long as we don't give up, we can still beat them, River.