13704/To the Marrow

To the Marrow
Date of Scene:	05 August 2021
Location:	Sewers, NYC
Synopsis:	X-23 seeks Marrow for more information on a threat to the Morlocks.
Cast of Characters:	X-23, Marrow

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X-23 has posed:
It feels like one giant clusterfuck already going from the city to the sewers. Just getting to the city - the transition from the sheltered woods of Xavier's Academy to constant traffic, the smell of cars, honking, and people. Too many people. Too many people. Too many...

She seldom gets like that anymore. So it was a relief to pry open a utility hole and go under the street. Laura lowers the lid and hangs on the ladder, blinking while her eyes adjust to the low light, and she starts to untangle the overwhelming scent of damp age and forgotten spaces. Her soft-soled boots are quiet on the rungs as she descends. Dressed for being a sewer rat; she wears a pair of camy chinos and a black t-shirt with her hair pulled back into a practical tail.

When she reaches the bottom, she turns right, following Logan's instructions, and begins the trek toward her destination and meeting her first Morlock.

Marrow has posed:
This area is well away from the main Morlocks. After all, there are some issues going on there. Things that have kept Marrow and Gene Nation far from them. Honestly even Callisto was living in another section of the tunnels, far from the main group. They were working with Logan, at her behest. Something Marrow wasn't thrilled with. She didn't trust the X-Men. At all. Not after their past. Not hers. Just the Morlocks.

The path Laura was taking would head her to a dead end. That dead end would force her to turn back. Which she would've likely been warned about. But once she reached that point and turned back, that is when Marrow would step out from a side tunnel. The bones today were more prominent, all along the right side of her face. Several along her arms, as she wore a tank style top which didn't hide them. Then the larger bones extending out behind her shoulders and back, the weeapons she most often utilized. The scent of her might have been picked up earlier, but it was hard to tell in the stink of the sewer tunnels.

She narrowed her eyes as she looked at the stranger. "You're here to help?"

X-23 has posed:
Like her father, Laura can follow the scent of a person hours after they passed even during rush hour on a well-traveled street. The undertone of something new had wriggled into her awareness fifteen minutes or so after the tunnels got smaller and ranker. It took a while for her to decide that she was smelling a living being. The deadend was like the ending to a horror film. You know it's coming, you prepare yourself for it, but the jump startle kicks the adrenaline into the red.

Laura can practically taste the anger and distrust pouring off Marrow. It feels like home in a way so she leans into it, replying softly, without fear, "That's the plan. Logan said you'd be the one to tell me which way to go. I'm Laura, his daughter. Kinda."

Marrow has posed:
"Can't get too close but you can do some recon if you want. If you have a sense of smell, you will find ourself unable to get away otherwise. And if you are like your father, you have a very strong sense of smell."

Marrow kept herself at that distance. Laura would recognize it. Enough of one that they were able to get away from each other if necessary. Or to engage properly if they went for each other. The necessary time to be able to draw weapons.

Yet she wasn't attacking. For now. Again, she had agreed to be on her best behavior. To Logan. But more importantly to Callisto.

X-23 has posed:
It's in her blood and bones whether Laura wills it or not. Laura smiles inwardly at the menace emanating from Marrow. She understands being battle-ready even before her eyes open in the morning and respects the fact that they would be locked in a fight to the death.

Laying a finger to one side of her nose, she affirms Marrow's words with a sideways nod, saying evenly, "We both can track just about anything, anywhere." She raises her chin and look a question at the Morlock. "But, Logan said it was like those children disappeared into thin air."

Marrow has posed:
"They did. And didn't. They left. Walked away. It's why there were no signs of kidnappers. Nothing that would be able to be tracked. Other than the kids themselves. And then only for about three blocks. After that, they were taken by the concrete. Down below."

Marrow frwoned and turned to start walking back the way Laura had entered. Giving her back to the woman which went against every single instinct she had. It was just her moment of showing trust. While moving a little stiffly as she fought the urge to look back over her shoulder.

"Now they are being kept. And they aren't caged. Yet they are trapped nonetheless."

X-23 has posed:
Screwing her eyes into a scowl at the description, Laura taps her chin, trying to imagine the scenario. "Sounds like the Pied Piper, yeah? Like they were hypnotized or something."

Careful to keep her distance behind Marrow, she follows through the dim tunnel. It's respect not pushing her boundaries.

Pitching her voice to carry no further than the Morlock, "Trapped how?"