Video 01 | Day 87

[miniclaws]

[The video begins with a hand with extended claws resting on the grass. There are cuts on the hand which are beginning to close over. Slowly, a face comes into view. The girl has clearly injured more than her hand. There are lacerations and bruises on her face. She looks towards the sky looking for a face in the sky. When she’s none, she turns to the video on her wrist.]

Hazmat, Reptil? Are you safe? Where has Arcade taken us? I do not remember what happened after Apex used the sentinel to attack me.

[She shuts her eyes briefly.]

The trigger scent has gone, I am no longer a danger to you. I can find you again.

Comments

video;

[enchangement]

So many codes.

[miniclaws]

[Laura does not recognise the girl. Her face matches no files she has memorised. This did the not fit the parameters of Arcades game.]

Codes are necessary, at least forty percent of any population use one form of codes or another.

[enchangement]

I know. Sense and sensible, but still and yet, you are not where you were before.

Is the trigger real?

[miniclaws]

[Laura accepts this, being pulled to different locations and universes is not uncommon where she comes from.

She gives a brief nod. There is no need to provide a stranger with details they could use to manipulate her.]

What does the trigger mean to you?

[enchangement]

Mine are tones, not scent; hard wired fast and taunt into the brain.

Charles is going to help me change them.

[miniclaws]

[Laura looks curious and files the name away for later.]

What does the trigger make you do?

[enchangement]

What all child assassins do.

[miniclaws]

Kill.

[Laura confirms it. She withtracts the blades, letting them slide back into the skin below her knuckles.]

They only wanted us to be weapons.

[enchangement]

All possible threats.

[ River smiles. ]

Are you a big damned hero now, too?

( v i d e o )

[mentis]

[ For a moment he thinks of Logan - Charles knew what his power entailed, those in the cape helped him work it out and Erik would have filled him in were it not already frighteningly obvious. But this is not a gruff, rather aggressive man but a young girl.

So he tries to be careful, not too pitying because what would be the point? Plenty turn up broken. ] Are you all right?

[miniclaws]

Yes. [Laura does not set out to shock him, she simply deals in facts.]

The broken bones are reforming. I will have ninety percent mobility back in one hour.

[mentis]

You're a mutant.

[ It's not a wild leap, in fact he feels inherently comfortable with his assessment. She is too like Logan and the others he has run into. ] Where are you? Perhaps I could come and help you get out of the open?

[miniclaws]

[His face is smooth and earnest. Laura can detect no hint of deception in his face. Still she pauses, she does not trust people.]

What is your name and interest in mutants?

[mentis]

Charles Xavier. [ That makes his smile a little soft, one shoulder lifting slightly in nonchalance. ]

Professor X, apparently. Though from a far different time than every other mutant who arrives here.

[miniclaws]

You are too young to be from my time, you are not bald.

[Laura lifts her head to find a point of reference he can use to arrive at her location. It will put her in a strong position to accept his help for now, in case she is attacked..]

I am at the edge of the forest.

[mentis]

So I've heard.

[ He watches the background and then nods. ] Try to stay out of the woods, there are creatures who live there that even those who have been here the longest can barely understand. I'll be down as soon as I can.

[miniclaws]

All right.

[Laura turns her head to woods. Her enhanced senses searching for any nearby 'creatures'. She will need more information on them later. A spot of blood appears on the feed and Laura rubs it off.]

I can look after myself.

voice

[hellionated]

[ That face, that voice...

It's all so familiar. Too familiar.

It's been months since he saw her. Months since she told him there was nothing between them. The anger about that is not as strong as it was, but seeing her again. Hearing her again. It brings back the resentment, brings back the sour taste of that memory.

She's talking about the trigger. What the hell has she been doing? Does he care enough to ask?

Yes, definitely. He cares too much. He always cared too much about her. Cared enough to be stupid and let her hurt him. That's what he can't forgive her for. That's why he doesn't let her see his face. She'll know his voice. That's enough. ]

There's no sentinels here. It's not our world. I'm surprised you didn't figure that out right away.

Re: voice

[miniclaws]

[Laura takes a moment before she replies. Julian's voice is one she wasn't prepared to hear again. Her thoughts about him are no less complicated than the time she spoke of him with Gambit. ]


I was already out of our world, Julian. The sentinel accompanied us to Murderworld.

[If they were still on Murderworld or a similar world, she could not avoid him. She does not want to see him die.]

voice

[hellionated]

[ A pause. ]

Well, this ain't Murderworld either, and there's no one called Arcade here.

Jubilee is. [ She'd probably care about that. ] She's young. From before M-Day.

Re: voice

[miniclaws]

[A young Jubilee does not incur Laura's interest. Circumstance through them together in Laura's timeline.

She studies the grass. Should she care more than she does?]

Time travel and a new world. Why were we brought here?

[There is always a reason.]

voice

[hellionated]

I got here days ago, Laura. Days. I don't have answers.

[ He sounds frustrated. No one had really been able to tell him anything. He still doesn't really know where he stands.

And he doesn't particularly want to tell Laura what he does know, because that involves talking about experiments and he thinks it'd freak her out. And however mad he might be at her, it's not that easy to turn off everything he'd ever felt about her. He still doesn't want to hurt her. ]

Xavier talked about tests and shit, but I don't know. I haven't seen who's in charge, and the only thing that's happened so far is I wound up in some girl's dream for a while.

[miniclaws]

Answers can be ascertained in hours or minutes.

[Laura stops correcting him and falls silent when he mentions the tests. She is outside, she isn't in a lab. If there were tests, she would avoid them.]]

Be careful.

Are we trapped in this village or may we leave?

[hellionated]

[ He rolls his eyes when she corrects him, and again feels glad she isn't looking at him right now. ]

If we could leave, do you think I'd still be here?

There's a shield. You can go so far and then it throws you back. It's like one, giant cage, for all of us.

But you know, you could've found that out yourself if you'd walked for a few hours. Or minutes, maybe.

[miniclaws]

I would if I could walk.

[This is like the last time they talked. They must always correct each other.]