driftfleet | [Action]

Entry tags:

[Action]

Who: Leia, Logan, Laura, Kitty
Broadcast: N/A
Action: The Starlight Station
When: Nowish (but leaving it flexible)

[A small group of people who want to make bad life decisions have gathered in a more-or-less private space they scouted on the station. They're all recent-ish arrivals who don't like the idea of the augments, and certainly don't trust them.

They've heard stories about impossible impeding fear and unbearable pain, but they aren't easily stopped by either concept. Some things you have to see and do and know for yourself. Besides, they have mutants with healing powers and built-in hand-scalpes and one with the ability to disrupt electronics with a touch. Not to mention a woman with force abilities. What could possibly go wrong?]

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[Leia shows up a few minutes early, one of the blasters from the Bishop holstered at her hip. It's unlikely they'll need it, but she believes in being prepared for anything.

A small part of her is relieved she's not going to be the experimental womp rat; it's doing battle with the portion of her that's still inclined to want to suggest they try it on her anyway. Despite the logic of using a man with natural healing ability, her instinct is to take as much risk onto her own shoulders as she can.

Once she's in the room they picked for the experiment, she finds a wall to lean against, crossing her arms. Time to wait for the others.]

[Logan shows up, surprisingly timely, armed with a bottle of booze at his lips even as he enters. He's short, hairy, and built like a boulder. Although he acknowledges Leia upon entering, he doesn't bother actually greeting her. Instead he finds that there's an aluminum chair folded against the wall. He stretches it out, plants it in the middle of the ground, and he has himself a comfortable seat.

What will come next won't be pleasant. He knows that. The beer also won't do anything to help with that either, as even a bottle of vodka wouldn't stand up long enough against his healing factor once the blood started pouring. Still, it was the thought that counted.]

[Laura was a few steps behind Logan, and anything beyond a quick examination would make it evident the two were related somehow. Rather than following him once they were inside the room, she stopped by the door, scanning the room, offering Leia a little nod of her head.]

Hi.

[And then she took up residence leaning against the wall by the exit, crossing her arms, and she might have even looked relaxed if not for that wary edge that she never seemed to shake off. Always expecting an attack, even when there clearly wasn't one.]

[Kitty slips inside without all that messy and cumbersome door opening and closing that other people have to do. She gives the room a quick scan and nod.]

I could say I'm late, but I'm just going to say you're all early instead. [Look who wins at talking already?] Did you both meet Leia?

[Leia glances at Logan when he enters, giving him a nod when it's clear he's not planning on saying much. For Laura, she has a hello in answer--and for Kitty, widened eyes. She knows about the woman's abilities in theory, but in practice, they're amazing to see. Nothing like the Force at all.]

It's a pleasure. [She straightens up, walking to the center of the room.] Should we get started?

[He gives a stiff nod and doesn't bother to rise. He picked the chair for a good reason.]

No foreplay with this one, huh? S'fine with me.

[He turns his attention to Kitty. He knows this is going to be unpleasant, but at least this approach wasn't going to be messy.]

[Laura tensed when Kitty appeared through the wall. The problem with an approach like that was she couldn't smell the woman coming, which was...like cheating, to her. Ugh.]

[She just nodded at the desire to get started. She wasn't sure how any of this would go, but she could feel an edge of apprehension at the thought of it.]

Okay.

[Was all she said.]

I sort of feel like I should be putting on a stage show. [She walks up behind Logan first reaching up to feel for the augment. She assumes it will be on the same side as her own and, yep, there it is.] I'll just try to short circuit it first. We'll still need to remove it, but hopefully at that point it won't be able to do...whatever it is it does.

[So, all she has to do now is phase her hand through the back of his neck into the augment. Easy. Simple. Piece of delicious cake instead of food paste. So why hasn't she done it yet. She can feel her heart beating faster and there's a tremble in her hand as she holds it out toward him.]

What the hell? [She doesn't get scared like this. She does what she has to do. She completes the mission. Sometimes she overthinks it afterward, but in the moment she doesn't hesitate.]

[She's ready to observe--and then nothing happens. Kitty stands there, all potential and no action, the anticipation of something without any payoff. Leia's words come out tight.]

What is it?

[Beverly's reference to her hands shaking so badly she couldn't continue comes back to her. A dark, cold stone settles in the pit of her stomach. Whether it's an effect of the augment, a warning from the Force, or just her own worries, she can't tell.]

[He can sense her hesitation. She positively reeks of it. It's not as if he hasn't encountered Kitty in a frightened state before, even if it was his Kitty and not this one. But he'd never known her to be apprehensive about a simple operation like this. He tilted his head to glance back at her. His words are patient.]

Fight it. There ain't nothin' you can do that I won't come back from. So just do it.

[Yet even insisting on it gives him a sense of dread. He feels it in the pit of his stomach,. He'd already encountered this when he tried to use a mirror to get to his own neck. He hadn't even got so far as breaking the skin.]

[Laura's eyes narrowed as Kitty's scent changed, considering how abrupt the shift was, it didn't...quite feel natural. Which meant it probably wasn't. Something induced by whatever the chips inside their heads were.]

[She pushed off the wall, crossing the room to stand closer, watching.]

He will be fine. You do not need to be afraid.

I know. [She withdraws her hand for a moment clenching it into a fist close to her chest. It makes no sense to be this afraid of hurting him. She's seen the way he heals. Well, she's seen the way her Logan heals and there's no way frying the thing is going to be a problem and yet she's feeling things she barely even recognizes because it's so foreign to her.]

It must be the augment—programmed to protect themselves or something.

[She closes her eyes. Augment's fault or not she's the one who has to deal with it. And if it's making her feel things that aren't real all the more reason to disable it.

Her hand lashes out quickly as if striking a blow against an enemy except it's a blow that would never land in her phased state. She just can't do it slow and steady—not with the way everything inside her is screaming to stop. Once her hand has sliced through the back of his neck and the augment she jerks back, breathing heavily. She's full of actual terror, body trembling, but she's done her part. Right?] Did it work?

[As far as she knows her powers are still working as they always have here. Everything she's tried has been the same as usual. But she hasn't tried somethings like purposefully phasing through one of the ship's systems because sending them all to their deaths felt like a bad idea. If she had maybe she'd know that her phasing power doesn't disrupt all electronics anymore.]

[It's a fortunate thing he had the foresight to set his beer onto the ground. It takes increasing amounts of concentration for him to sit still. A growing sense of panic rises inside of him and with that comes a primal instinct to lash out. His mind roars at him to lash out and for him to extend his claws and rip her to shreds. He doesn't. His hands clench at his knees as he tightens two fists around the fabric of his jeans and his shoulder shake. Keeping the animal inside never seemed quite so hard.

Though the moment her hand passes through the augment, everything seems to go white. This was the other reason Laura was here. If he went into a berserker state, then she was one of the few who had a real chance at stopping him. But it doesn't come to that. The world comes into focus and Logan is left breathing heavily.]

... only one way to find out. [With a distinct snikt, his middle claw extends from his right hand. The claws is angled towards his augment just as he had before - but just like before, he can't bring himself to go any further. He curses under his breath and lowers his hand again.

A shake of the head was the only answer needed.]

[Laura knows something is wrong the second Kitty's hand disappears into Logan's head, she can feel the change, the tension, the emotions rolling off him in waves of scent and body language. When Kitty steps back, Laura steps in front of her, just to be safe, making certain that if Logan does rage...and it's certainly a possibility, given the fear she can smell...she will be his target. Nobody else in the room would survive it, after all.]

[As the seconds pass the tension fades, the worry easing into simple concern. Okay, she wasn't going to have to fight her ~~clonedad~~ mentor. She steps back when he slides a claw out and fails to cut himself, and then frowns.]

It did not work.

[Leia's hands ball into fists as she watches Kitty reach into Logan's head. It's a horrifying sight, unlike anything she's witnessed before, and it feels wrong. She wants to shout at Kitty to stop, they'll find another way.

She grits her teeth until it feels like they might crack, standing ramrod straight and waiting. And it's all for nothing.]

How are you feeling?

[To Logan, with no small amount of concern in her eyes.]

[Kitty takes a few deep breaths, just trying to get herself fully under control again. It doesn't seem like it's affecting her anymore, but it definitely got her insides all worked up in the process. She folds her arms cross her chest, feeling ridiculous for how hard something so simple was to do. And then it didn't even work. Why?]

Maybe it functions on magic instead of technology? [Or a mixture? But she falls quiet, wanting to hear what Logan has to say. He doesn't seem like he's doing much better.]

[He eyes Laura, wordlessly signalling his approval for her preparations to intervene. The last thing he wanted to do was to actually hurt her - but at least she was made to come back from that. Her willingness to sacrifice was a point of pride.

He slid his claw back into his hand and rested his bare palm against the back of his neck.]

Same as before, only annoyed. Magic or otherwise, phasing ain't doing nothing. So let's try takin' it out. [A pause and he looks to Laura again.] We're gonna need the restraints, though.

[The chains had been left outside, but he and Laura had brought them just in case something like this happened. If he was restrained, then there should be no reason why they couldn't proceed.]

[Laura hesitated at that half-instruction. She new he wanted her to go get the chains, yet she didn't really want to. She had agreed to do this, but agreeing to a theoretical and actually doing it were very different.]

[Still, after a moment of studying him, she just nodded and turned, stepping past Kitty and back out into the corridor, returning a moment later with the pile of metal chains.]

[This is going to be a harder round than the last one, and the last one wasn't exactly easy to sit through. Leia sets her jaw as Laura brings in the chains; when the girl gets close, she holds out a hand, as though to take some from her.]

Want some help?

You felt it too, didn't you? [The fear. Stranger to think of it coming from him than her. She just watches Laura and Leia, ready to help with the chains if needed. She could always fuse them into the wall with her power for some extra security.]

[Tightly locked chains hadn't stopped him before, but people tended to underestimate what he was willing to do with his claws and to his own body. Laura wouldn't though. He stayed seated until he was nice and secure. He even made sure he had good and tested it.]

I felt it. It'll be worse now. So I don't want any of ya backin' down, no matter how much of a fuss I kick up. Understood?

[Laura was going to refuse the offer of assistance, but she'd been getting reminded so often about how she couldn't do everything alone, so after a moment she just nodded.]

[She was quite thorough at hooking up the chains though, picking joints and making sure he couldn't turn his wrist enough to reach them with his claws. Lessons from her childhood, about what to do if she ever caught him, were flaring up in her mind, useful but unwanted.]

[When it was finished, she stepped back from the chains and Logan, studying him for a long moment. She wanted to ask him if he was sure, if there was some other way, but she didn't. She knew what he wanted her to do.]

Okay.

[Was her answer to his request, and she lifted a hand, letting one of her claws slide out, ignoring the faint twitch of pain that always accompanied it. She didn't step forward, though, not just yet...]

[Leia helps with the chains, but without such detailed knowledge of Logan's abilities, she can't do much more than assist. Laura clearly has plans for how best to chain the man up.

And then she steps back, nodding her agreement to Logan's request and hoping she won't regret it. Her gaze strays to Laura's claw soon after, and she can't seem to drag her eyes away.]

[Kitty stays close so if something does go wrong and she needs to phase someone out of harm's way she can. She knows they can all take care of themselves, but no one here wants to be fighting each other so simply being intangible for a moment is a nice way to avoid that.] Understood.

[Kitty glances over to Leia to see how she's taking all the mutant high jinks. She gives her a nod. Meant to be reassuring, but she know the strain of this activity first hand now.]

[He tries to stretch himself and wiggle out of the chains. It's no use, though. Laura is good. Sometimes a little too good. This isn't the sort of thing he wanted to subject her to. Not while she was still on her path to searching for her own humanity. Shame there was no one else.

He looked to Leia, the only stranger in this bunch.]

Ya might wanna look away. This ain't gonna be pretty.

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