15290/Psychogenesis: Sewing the seeds

Psychogenesis: Sewing the seeds
Date of Scene:	04 July 2023
Location:	Lucifer's Penthouse, Melville
Synopsis:	the White Queen and the Wolverine stopped by the penthouse at Lux, post charity event to get down to some nitty gritty. There might even be cooperation afoot, may the heavens preserve us.
Cast of Characters:	Sinister, Wolverine, Emma Frost

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Sinister has posed:
It is a little later than the event that began of an evening, involving kitties and puppies and snakes oh, my -- and vast sums of cash setting an organization up for years to come. Sometimes, good causes have a knock on effect that's greater than the initially planned happenstance. For a lot of shelter animals, it was their lucky night.

Escorted up by Janice, made comfortable by her bartending skills and probably the actual /wall/ of whiskey (Lucifer has a thing for it and there literally IS a wall dedicated solely to that particular beverage).

It's maybe an hour after, that the co-host actually manages to break free and ascend. The earth shook earlier, which both the X-men here can quite easily discern by thought and by smell, was the Juggernaut. There was also a lot of brimstone which had a different tang to it than the aroma of Lucifer himself.

And then, he's there, the doors opening and his features not precisely looking haggard, but certainly a little put upon. "Bloody Hellfire princesses who should've been spanked when they were knee high to a grasshopper. I swear, some people just need to eat crow..." Deep breath in and the humanity melts away, to leave Nathaniel Essex as the porcelain pale figure with finely groomed facial hair and his ruby diamond, eyes a'glow. "I prefer the honesty," he notes, gesturing to his visage. "I do hope you both were well taken care of?"

Wolverine has posed:
Logan is still there, complete with long pony knob still in place. A pause comes from him at the smell of Juggernaut and Luciver. That's not a good combo in his eyes. After a moment he pushes onward into the next surroundings.

Ocean blue eyes look about the place for a moment. Then there is sinister. Everything about his skin that ghostly white. A red diamond sits upon his forehead. "Almost fergot how ya actually looked," most of their run ins were in public. So, the true form sits stashed away. "Ya wanted to talk to her 'bout the nightmares n' that whole bag of fresh Hell," and like Emma before him, Logan cuts straight to business.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma entered the private quarters of Lucifer's, and by that as well, Nathaniel's, and looked around. "Well, well. I see the man is what you have said - a hedonist, to a degree. Do I really strike you as the same, Logan?"

As she takes a lounging position on a couch, asking for a top notch bottle of whiskey to be brought to her, with a tumbler, no ice, she waits until Sinister arrives.

"So, tell me - tell us - what is the real reason you have asked us up here? It can't be a menage-a-trois." She cocked a brow while she waits for her answer.

Wolverine has posed:
He looks firmly at both of them, "Neither of you want this!" Logan is quick to respond about about that threesome idea.

Sinister has posed:
"Although you are a delectable woman that any being, be they woman, man or other entity... would be lucky to get within a breath of, Emma my dearest... I am spoken for. And English. And victorian. I've managed quite well at releasing my inner prude and letting him go off and sulk in the corner, but I really do not enjoy sharing." Some things cannot be changed with Sinister. That's one of them.

Inclining his head though, he comes to sit in the air in the middle of the floor, crossing his knees like the Hanged Man and loosely folding his arms, so that he might still easily gesture. "So. You remember what I came to Cerebro for? What you and Jean did? What the result was?" he just has to doublecheck. She might have had a horrible case of amnesia in the recent past.

Wolverine has posed:
"It was one of the last times we talked darlin'. Him n' his. . .other half," Logan thought about say something sarcastic. However, he didn't think it applied. "Nathan came to the Mansion wantin' to use Cerebro. You were there fer a few n' then ya had to wash yer hair or somethin'. Then things went down Hill real quick when ya left," Logan doesn't want to recall the rest of it. Strong opinions still linger with that momen and he's trying to put it in the rear view. "Long story short, stuff happened -after- they used Cerebro," Logan mentions then waits for others to speak. He could do the talking again, but things may be lost in translation.

Emma Frost has posed:
"Of those three, dear Nathaniel, Victorian is not a problem. Or did you not expect me to know my ancient history? Hmm?" While they were straightlaced in public, they were one of the raunchiest eras to exist in England.

Swirling her glass, taking a drink, she shrugs. "I usually let Jean be the owner of her problems. It is easier that way. We have never gotten along famously." And there were reasons for that. "She hasn't said much. Should I be aware?" At which she looks between the gentlemen.

Sinister has posed:
"In certain circles that might have been the case, but I was married to my wife, my work and my children, born and unborn. In some respects I was rather boring, in others immensely interesting, but nobody really appreciated that at the time..." Sinister waves a hand, dismissive of that. There's a pause. "This is still rather surreal that you at least Logan, agreed to sit down and converse. I've had numerous conversations with Emma, but I digress..."

Back on topic. "Lucifer and I had to do one thing with Cerebro, which was to find my dark half, which ... well, another aspect of me had figured a way to jettison out of my head. But I'm a sadistic bastard, or at least that part of me was and it dragged all of me with it, except the part I'd locked away in my head, because it got in the way. Long story short, the devil and mister Drago who you met earlier, had to delve into deep memories within my mind and wake up the last of me that remained... so that we could find the evil and handle it. The vicious evil, that is. The monster."

He gestures toward Emma. "You leant Jean some of your calibre and she made a stipulation that in order to use Cerebro so I could find the Monster from my mind in the Astral plane, that she... and the X-men would be judge, jury and executioner of /him/. Only she didn't destroy what I imprisoned in my own ruby diamond." He gestures at his forehead. "That's a replacement. Rather... she kept it. I don't know if she's since destroyed it. Xavier's X-men are not exactly best friends with me."

He is silent for a moment, clucks his tongue then continues. "I felt something escape the astral at the moment of my Monster's imprisonment. It took me a while to convince myself that it wasn't paranoia, that there actually -was- a shadow out there in the world. Turns out I was right. Shadows. Plural..."

He lets them catch up.

Emma Frost has posed:
Unlounging herself on the couch, Emma sits up. Normally she would sit back, and give the whole thing a laissez-faire kind of attitude. That she doesn't she tell Sinister things he probably doesn't want to hear.

"Jean, we'll have to deal with another time. But this shadow. Tell me more. Are you able to know its actions, or now that it has been released, it has its own mind?"

Sinister has posed:
There's a bit of a lengthy sigh from Essex. "It's multiples. I tracked one down to a little one-horse town in upstate new York called Happyville and we discovered... physical manifestations. I don't need to tell you that the astral plane is the reflection of every sentience as a collective, all the positive and the negative and that it can be reactive. When the immense trauma of psychically cutting out the Monster and imprisoning it occured, it seems to have created a psychogenesis event. That trauma, all the seeds, scattered and ran for the hills like insects. And some places, I suspect they'll just peter out and die, for a lack of anything to imbed into. But..."

Here he lowers his chin, peers at them both beneath his brows for the seriousness of it. "I made the connection -- Happyville was the site of forced separation of indigenous children, founded on a mission that became a school, which nearly everyone in that town had attended. All of them had a bit of the doctrine, so the psychogenesis found a place to take hold. And this is not unique to the east coast of America. The entire of the eastern seaboard is rife with horror and injustice. Roanoke. Salem. Hells, even Plymouth rock. Not to mention all the battlegrounds that America dutifully honours and remembers..."

Wolverine has posed:
"Yer both forgettin' Jean has a friend in the room," Logan reminds the pair sharply for amoment. Then he listens to everything for a moment. He goes back to being a fly on the wall between the pair.

Emma Frost has posed:
Emma stares at Logan. "And what makes you so certain that I am not counting on you to tell her? You forget, Logan, not all of us use the front door when we come calling. You, my friend, are a back door."

Then she smiles sweetly. "Besides, what make you so certain that you will remember this conversation?"

She must be joking.. isn't she?

"So, let me think. The underlying psychic tone coalesced allowing your shadow free time to have their way? How. Delightful."

At that, she refilled her tumbler. Drank it. And refilled it once again.

"Provided I haven't missed something, or, god forbid, misunderstood what is going on, what do you, exactly, want me to do?"

Sinister has posed:
"Not exactly, Emma. My Monster had nothing to do with it, other than the event that imprisoned it and rendered my own mind a different thing than it was before. That act, made the /astral/ basically... well, vomit, I suppose. All the seeds of trauma. A psychogenesis event. Creation out of a psychic event."

Sinister looks from Emma to Logan, raising a finger to the ceiling and purposefully thrusting it toward him. "I did not say -anything- detrimental about Jean at all, Logan. I recalled events. I do not mind you being suspicious of me, or even angry at something I -have- done, but I draw the line at you cautioning me on something I'm innocent of. I have the utmost respect for the Phoenix. In fact, years of dedicated obsession tell that story rather well, don't they?"

He eases back in his seat of nothing once again and spreads hands wide. "Unless you want me to be hunting every single psycho-seeding event on my own, it might be a good idea to split the workload. Logan seems to think that a psychic in the team is the way to go. I would say he's potentially wrong, but I was with Lucifer when we handled Happyville, so I might be too much of an observer in the event."

Emma Frost has posed:
"Jean wouldn't believe it if I wasn't like this, anyways. We are frenemies at best. We work together at times. She trusts me. barely, with the students. I can accept that."

She turns back to Sinister, and shrugs. "Your explanation is more accurate. So we will go with that. The end results are similar though. These psychic ..bombs.. as you put it, are just waiting to blow up at a drop of a hat. Correct?"

Emma listens to the rest of Sinister's request (it is a request, even if it doesn't seem like it is), what a nod. Of course, she doesn't say 'yay' or 'nay' for a bit, looking at this problem from all sides now, thinking. "Splitting the workload is probably the way to go. Especially one such as I. You may be familiar to it, regardless of your mental shields. Me?"

She smiles. And that is when you know you've got her: here is a problem that she can't say that doesn't come around very often. Emma loves a mental challenge.

"Very well. Count me in."

Wolverine has posed:
"A psychic ain't a bad option. These things still got a mind they can pry into. Other people can make the world round them look different, that's better than reality changin'. Probably infinitely better, too," Logan says thinking that they're probably a little more stable. Rumors about a reality shifter is that they're nutty than the entire fruitcake no one wants at Christmas time.

"And yer undercutting Emma's abilities? She could handle it," he says just pointing out tha tmaybe Emma has some prowess they can both admire.

"If I didn't trust her skill, I wouldn't have introduced," he'll add.

Sinister has posed:
"I don't doubt Emma, Logan. I've dealt with her for many a year," Sinister replies, then nods to the White Queen. There's a smile and a relieved huff of air. "Well... because I have absolutely no say in these things, I shall leave it to you both to decide who will be your back up and which site of trauma you feel titilated to tackle. I have been informed in no uncertain terms that the next time I fix trouble brewing, it -has- to be in the bahamas. I feel as if this might be a stretch of happenstance, but one doesn't argue with an archangel. I shall have to do any assistance to you as -best- I can."

Again three words are said: "I am trying."

Emma Frost has posed:
A long, slow appraising nod is given to Logan. "Yes, you are right. Most people aren't aware of the depths of my powers. Which oftentimes has done me good. I wasn't aware that you were paying quite that much attention to me. Perhaps we will have to chat, Logan. See what else you are holding back. Hrm?"

"As for you," Emma returns her attention to Sinister. "We have met a time or two prior. You may or may not have been aware of my talents. But, yes, Logan is right about me."

Wolverine has posed:
"That's a card I'll keep close to the chest, just to keep ya wonderin' darlin'," Logan explains about the attention he keeps on her. And it's true, to a small degree. People do learn things by shutting up and just watching. Emma will always have Logan's respect, because he knows her skills.

Those three words come from Sinister. It worries him, like sending a cold shiven down his spine metaphorically. Ocean blue eyes looking back to Sinister, I'll get a small squad. People I think that can do some damage," and then he thinks on it. Trying to think of people that could handle something like this. And he's unsure who to ask for a moment.

Sinister has posed:
"I am sure he is, Emma. I have studied you, over many years. I would caution you to note, that you do not know everything there is to know about my scope of abilities either, whilst we're toeing the line in the sand and tossing crisp packets over the line in taunt. I will trust you, to do what is best for yourself overall and trust in turn that for the time being, it coincides with what is best overall and what is best for myself. I will not belabour a point that I do not -rightly- fancy the notion of tackling this entire potential crisis on my own. But I /will/ if I -have- to. And thereby will you make the bed you lie in..." Sinister smiles.

"So now that that's all over and done with... -thank you-." Wait, what? "...For the time and the genuine consideration. I am aware that I have absolutely no right to suggest individuals, but... mister Killovarras has an untapped potential that could be very useful in the area of the mystic, which the X-men generally lack. He may have an incling of containment protocols that none of us here would think of. Rogue is as hard hitting as they come... If Betsy Braddock is around, she would also be helpful. And if you can persuade him, Remy has talents that would be useful in the avenue of subterfuge. Those are my personal picks, but they are not, rather obviously, set in stone. I would even entertain John, but for the fact he may not be able to get over who -I- am and working with me. In this? I truly mean you no harm. I promise."

Emma Frost has posed:
"Yes, yes. We are the most powerful psychics we know, Nathaniel. Don't make me lessen my growing respect with such silliness. I would hate to take another look at you, as you tried to push out your chest, and make hideous innuendos of power. Power is. You don't need to tell me, unless you don't have it. In which case, I'm not interested."

Drinking back the remains of her whiskey, Emma had to chuckle. "Crisps packets? I never! Possibly erased the line and moved it a few inches closer to you."

Leaving nothing in her glass, she stands. "If we need more, you know where I can be found. Otherwise, I'll be ready. It was nice to visit the Lux. Coming Logan? Or should I bid my dues to you as well?"

Wolverine has posed:
Hearing Sinister say "Thank You" takes him back for a little bit. Ocean blue eyes look toward Sinister for a moment. He looks just takes it back a little bit. His gaze flicks to Emma again, "Yeah. Yeah. I'm comin'," Logan didn't really have much to say because there were a lot of points Emma made. Plus, he's already trying to figure out who would be good for a small team for that mission. He's concerned a little bit.