15375/Worlds Collide

Worlds Collide
Date of Scene:	24 July 2023
Location:	Sailor Pub and Bar, Mutant Town
Synopsis:	Rogue meets up with Sinister to return some items. Logan joins them for a little Q&A.
Cast of Characters:	Rogue, Sinister, Wolverine

---

Rogue has posed:
At a time in the near past, Rogue and Logan had gone to a township near fully owned and operated by Essex Corp. There, they ran into a Not-Sinister and Rogue had acquired a few things at the asking (or perhaps gentle demand) of the Real-Sinister. Then she and Logan got into a fight.

But that's ancient history.

Now, in a location in Mutant Town where she and Sinister have never met, Rogue has sent a text to the would-be-villian asking him to meet her here. <I've got something that may belong to you.> It said. <Don't want this to wind up in any wrong hands.> She continued. <Meet me in Mutant Town. Tho I might be joined by my partner in snooping.> Finishing the thought while sitting in a booth, looking over the pictures of famous mutants hanging on the walls, sipping a fruity gin cocktail.

Sinister has posed:
There was no time frame given, which to someone that is obsessive, can be quite frustrating. So, lacking in such, the only description that works for the arrival of Doctor Essex is 'prompt'.

Casual, but at the designer smart end, he arrives in blue jeans, tight white T and black leather vest, there's nevertheless rings on his fingers, raebans on, and a studs and hoops in ear. Biker gloves and black bovvah boots on, he arrived on a Phantom motorbike, which is quite a sight. It blee-bleeps as he parks it and engages the anti-theft, sitting astride for a good minute, looking up at the building face, checking the street and otherwise making sure his surroundings don't spell 'trap' in large neon letters ten foot high.

His entrance is halted at the front step with a frozen moment of imminent press-ganging, then he stalks toward where Rogue has settled herself and taps two fingers at his temple in greeting as he draws to a stop.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue glances up and over when the shadow of Essex darkens her table. A smile is offered, as well as a nod of her head in silent greeting before she motions to the seat across from her. "Thanks for meeting me so soon and unexpectedly, Doctor Essex." She was going to use his real first name, but in light of everything, decides to keep it formal.

It's very obvious Rogue is quite comfortable in her own skin these days. It's jeans and a tee shirt for herself, no gloves, hair pulled back into a ponytail and blue rimmed sunglasses hanging out on top of her head since she's inside a building.

"Everything happened so quick the other day, I decided to make sure things were grabbed so no one else could get them. Seeing you here makes me believe that the imposter that was you has been handled." A pause. "The fuck was it anyway? A clone gone bad?"

Sinister has posed:
"In a manner of speaking. One of me working semi-counterproductive to -my- intents. I am," Sinister pauses there, shakes his head gently and settles into the seat. "Unique. Which for me, feels incredibly strange to say --" he slips the raebans off his nose, folds them and tucks them into the 'v' of his vest, nodding his head to her with a casual once-over of grey-eyed regard. Perhaps his attention lingers on her hands a little longer than the rest and perhaps there's a very faint smile, before his gaze meets across the table.

"I expect there are probably questions. I know /I/ have one or two which I'd like addressed, but you're probably not the one to answer them." That observation made, he raises his hand to gain the waitress' attention and orders a pint of 80 shilling beer, for once "...with an orange slice and topped." Pause for consideration. "And a basket of calamari."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue lifts her glass to take a slow drink of her chosen cocktail while Nathaniel has the attention of the waitress. Having taken note of that lingering gaze on her hands, she couldn't help the light smirk that touched the corners of her lips in that moment either. It's only when the waitress is gone that she picks up a box settled next to her and sets it on the table.

"I went back for them. Well I went back to see if the box was still there and it was so I took it back with me to the mansion..." She offers. "I'm not sure I want to know what you're doing with this..." She taps the box, then reaches into her pocket for the laser pointer, this is offered to be handed over. "This, however, was a curiousity of mine. Why this was so important to grab from him when it seems to be a simple device."

Sinister has posed:
Sinister smiles for the waitress as she goes off to get the order ready, then returns attention to the table, glancing to the box as it's lifted from beneath the table and handed over. He tucks it to the side of himself and looks at it singularly for a good moment, then to the laser pointed as it's handed over. There's a small sigh, and he takes it by the base, gazes at it a moment, then looks up at her focusedly as he holds the business end toward his left palm and doubleclicks the button. The smell of burning skin is sudden and poignant and then, there's a scorch mark on the wall beside him in the booth before the double-click is done again -- all of that took no more than a couple of seconds and he holds his palm up, hole straight through it for her to see.

The fact that the wound closes up, pinkens then vanishes swift as you like is neither here nor there. The point of the pointer is pointed, no?

"Often, with myself in the field, very little is simple. I've quite a number of very useful and dangerous toys that fit neatly in jacket pockets or the ilk. I suppose it's rather Q of me, now that I think about it. Hmm!"

Wolverine has posed:
Logan pulls up to the bar and just makes his way to a usual spot. "You know what I like," Logan says knowing he has about three usuals. It's just a matter of stock and so he has a tired list. If the first choice isn't in, they'll go for the second and so forth. He'll make himself comfortable. Then smell two familiar scents. Inwardly there's a groan. That annoys him, because it's like having to admit the mission went sideways. Also, there will probably be question because it went sideways. Along with general ones about why it even happened. All of it was like a metaphorical black eye.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue watches the demonstration with the laser pointer that's likely not actually a laser pointer but something far more dangerous. In the wrong hands, that could be a disaster. She lifts her drink for another slow sip and then settles back in her spot a moment. Movement at the door catches her attention and she looks over to see Logan settling at the bar, holding her breath a moment before letting it out to look back at Nathaniel.

"What was that township anyway? Home away from home? A place for you to do your worse to the people there while they are none the wiser because they've somehow put their faith in you?" The question finished just before the waitress rolls up to deliver Sinister's beer a l'orange. So she keeps quiet and just waits on an answer.

Sinister has posed:
Sinister's attention shifts, the grey eyes finding that stocky canadian as he makes his way in to his usual spot. There, he studies for the time it takes for the nose to catch up and realize that there's familiarity here - and so Logan's being gazed steadily at, when he looks that-a-way. Yup, he saw you. And with arched eyebrow, the attention shifts from X to XX with a wan smile. "Here we go..." murmured, he settles back and takes a sip of his beer first, sucking his teeth at the light tart taste of the orange zestiness, eyes flicked down. They flick back up though, across nose and cheekbones to meet Rogue's again. "I suppose I'd say that that's Moreau, because it is. But that would sound redoubtably facetious, would it not? And that's not what you're driving at."

He gestures to the seat across from him, beside Rogue and glances to Logan again. "You might as well eavesdrop by invite."

Wolverine has posed:
Logan works on the beer. Just ignoring it all, wanting to get a good drink. This is the closest bar and Mac's is too long of a ride. So, this is him settling for now. Then Sinister does the invite. Logan sighs heavily and just downs whateve is left of the beer and slamming the bottle down at his spot with a loud, "CLANG!"

Grumbling, Logan goes and sits at the gstured spot. "What?" he replies grumpily. Oh, this is qute a happy time for Logan. Right now, he hates this. Rogue s nce, but he hates this.

Rogue has posed:
"You could just actually answer the question instead of dancing around it. I'm not really in the mood for dancing right now." Rogue offers this and then listens and watches as Nathaniel offers Logan a seat at the table. She doesn't mind it, but there's a wince when the man slams his glass down on the table before coming to join them. Nothing more is said from her as she finishes her drink and the waitress drops off the basket of calamari. "Can I get another Pink Panther, please?" Asking this as she also takes out cigarettes and a lighter to light one up because in this bar at least smoking is allowed. The ashtray on the table proves as much.

Sinister has posed:
There's just a hint of annoyance on Sinister's face at the response given, a very slight hardening of the storm cloud regard. He flicks eyes to Logan as the man's bristle practically makes him a porcupine, not a wolverine and he ignores the steaming calamari as the basket is put down. His affability is a little diminished in tone as he replies, not caustically but a little cool "Essentially, yes. You found one of the townships dotted about the place that have benefited from my assistance for multiple generations. Much like some places in detroit were predicated on the automotive, like some townships in the midwest on mines and regretably such companies as Montsanto." The tone becomes a little icier now "...If you dig, you'll find the population has a significantly lower cancer rate than other communitites, the water table is cleaner, they live on average about five to ten years longer than nearby towns and nobody has mysteriously gone missing. There's a democratically elected mayor, a council, a BIA, a /teaching hospital/ which most small townships don't have the luxury of and a residency program that helps underprivaleged as well. The tenements are owned by myself and the corporation, which is maintained. The school board is a mess, but that's what it's like almost everywhere in America."

Blunt.

"So why were you spying on my /better/ efforts? Would you care to find out about some of the worse ones?"

Wolverine has posed:
"Sure ya wanna talk shop so openly?" Logan responds honestly and points to his spot signalling another beer from the wait staff.

A nod goes to Rogue and he'll wait for his beer. Then he'll work on that beer. Setting down the glass, "Yer a scientist right? A good one? Long history of genetics, right?" he poses his own quetions, albiet much simpler ones.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue takes a breath, then another, listening to the cool response from Sinister and then the blatant dodge from Logan. This causes her to roll her eyes. "Yeah. I'm sure I wanna talk shop so openly. We're in Mutant Town, at a bar that hardly anyone comes to." She offers and then shrugs, taking a drag off that cigarette. "In fact, if you don't wanna sit here and be a part of this, then by all means you can mosey on back to the bar and drink your beers while sulking..."

Then she turns to sort of face Logan more pointedly. "But let me let you in on a little secret. The man across from you, he actually respects those that come to him directly to ask their questions. All the snooping around you do is only going to get you on the bad side of a person you don't trust. Sorry, but I'm not sorry. You got issues with Sinister, and he's never denied this fact. He's never denied any of the reasons why people distrust him. And I ain't sayin' that it makes him a better person or nothin...but what I am sayin' is that if you want answers. This is where you get them. You may like them, you may not... but sneakin' around ain't gettin' ya shit but a bruised ego and a rough night."

Sinister has posed:
Sin falls silent at the gruff response from Logan, his cheeks sucked on a tad as his jaw works, but then, there's a response from Rogue that just leaves him blinking once and giving a silent, voiceless chuckle. His pint is lifted, toasted in her direction and another sip of citrusy beer is taken, again with a suck on the teeth.

"Yes, I'm a scientist. Yes, I'm a very good one, exceptional in fact. Yes, I am the father of genetics, so to speak. Although, the rest of humanity and mutant kind are only now catching up to about a hundred odd years back, to put it in perspective."

Wolverine has posed:
Logan looks at Rogue for a moment. The expression doesn't change, but his thoughts do. Ocean blue eyes reading everythiing from body language to expression. Another thought lingers about some her words, but they, too, go unsaid.

Ocean blue eyes flick toward Sinister, "'Bein' a human got in the way n' I couldn't afford that. Now, I'm very far from bein' human any more, that it is a stretch to remember how it felt.' Your words, right?" Logan asks metaphorically. "Last few people to say words like to me were some o' the worst," the gaze never falters. "And that same person has their fingers in so many pharmaceutical, dates someone that's a literal demon or worse. Call me skeptical 'bout their work n' words after talk like that," and everyone is still in a Mexican standoff in Logan's mind. His finger is just a little bit closer to that trigger than it once was.

Ocean blue eyes, just stay on Sinister. That what caused the temporary alliance to fray between them. t's a mixture of the seriousness with those words. It's not just metaphorical, "So, I'm tryin' to figure out how bad yer personal petri dish," because Logan thinks someone with that life philosophy and that much control over a person's daily drug supply is a bit suspect, at best. Add in some past nstances of others claiming to be just as inhuman doing monstrous things. it really frayed Logan's trust.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue watches Logan for a moment, listening as he finally seems to let out the reason why he was snooping around on Sinister's business. She had known that 'something' was said, but not really sure what, so when Logan goes off and quotes the doctor back to himself. She tries to soften a little and between Logan's words the waitress comes by with his beer and her drink.

For now, this seems like a Sinister thing to respond to. She can't really keep speaking for the doctor. So she remains silent and simply picks up her drink for another sip - and also steals a piece of calamari.

Sinister has posed:
"Those are my words," Sinister doesn't bother denying them, his voice losing the ice and taking on something that sounds just a trace... hollow? Resigned? Reserved. "Thank you for reminding me of that," he looks from them both then to the calamari basket and takes up a breaded squid ring, rolling it in his fingertips so that the round of it flips left and right. He almost ends up distracted by it entirely, then, abruptly, it is used to gesture. At Logan's beer! "Social interactions, going to the bar for a beer. All of it, even having snacks, I have to access in the library of my mind. And honestly, I wasn't very good at it when I -was- human. You're quoting back at me, an inner voice that was setting itself to try and express itself, Logan. It's been silent for nearly a hundred and fifty years."

He shakes his head faintly, then focuses firmer on Logan. "Hence the bit you haven't quoted me on: That I'm /trying/."

Wolverine has posed:
"'Cause that quote's fresher than, 'I'm tryin'.'" Logan's heard Sinister talk about trying before and he's heard it a lot. "And I've heard speeches like that before. From pretty heartless people," one name comes to mind real quick. There's an associated second place. However, he never did get a name. An actual one, that's more of a title or codename. "And someone that claims to be a scientist with that much control over a town's medicine, it's healin', let's call me curious," ocean blue eyes just remain locked on Sinister. "N' I got caught," Logan's not going to deny that one. He can't, but there's no need to beat around the bush.

Rogue has posed:
"Yeah, but there were circumstances around us being caught..." Rogue offers just before popping the stolen calamari piece into her mouth to chew. "The man we saw wasn't the man across from us... and... lets be honest. In my haste an' anger, I didn't help much in that situation." She's ready to admit that much herself before giving a shrug of her shoulders.

"But I think Nathaniel's been tryin' more recently than before. Somethin' has changed...just dunno what. Otherwise, surely, there would be more going against him than...causin' a bit more neutral ground." Though she looks to Nathaniel at this point. "Not that I'm sayin' you ain't been, but I'm a firm believer that people can change. Hell, I'm kinda proof of that."

Sinister has posed:
"So is he," Sinister nods toward Logan, giving a bark of a laugh. "Yes, you did get caught..." he is silent for a little bit, chewing and mulling something over. He glances off to the side, as if listening to something only he can hear, then seems to decide for himself.

"I can hear you coming. So can any other version of me. It makes me very, very hard to get the drop on -- before the incident, not even Gambit managed it with his friend. He ended up caught with his trousers down around his ankles an I was considerably less kind about that, stole a portion of his friend's brain, froze his friend's power and used his friend as leverage to get him to do what I wanted." He shrugs. "Disclosure. Another thing that he probably won't tell you, but I will. You can add it to the mountain on column B."

He then plucks one of his hairs out at the root, hands it over and lays it down on the counter and forms a test tube out of his own forearm, along with a bung -- holding his fingertip over the end of that vial, he gazes at his hand until about one cubic centimeter of blood exudes into the glass, stoppering it and rolling it over. It impacts the calamari basket.

"I know Hank McCoy has a nice lab. Have him test that, if you like and see if you can get him to isolate the telomeres. He'll be very puzzled by them, but they're a marker. For -this- me. I'm the original me, as far as I know, but there's a lot of versions out there with my face. /Only/ this self has those telomeres. Me, myself and I. And if you, Logan, can smell the difference and pick out -that- particular aroma, you will always know that it's this me. The one true Nathaniel Essex. I have no idea if terminating me will terminate all the rest, but it's worth a shot."

Pause, black smile. "Isn't it?"

Wolverine has posed:
"I believed that," Logan says honestly. People can change. Most people at that table are proof. He believe in that redemption.

"Shouldn't let information like that slip, Nathan. People might wanna test the theory," Logan isn't thinking of himself. There's at least one person at that mansion that would kill for that bit of info. Good thing Logan and that persn aren't exactly friends at the moment.

He will take the slide for a moment. "What's in ths fer you?" he ass, honestly. Logan feels like this is a trap or there's a catch.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue no longer has a horse in this race, so she's just going to be here to make sure Logan doesn't do anything stupid. And that Sinister doesn't say anything dumb. Not like unintelligent, but like, offensive to Logan in such a way. She'll continue to drink.

Sinister has posed:
Sinister shrugs. "I know, right?" he responds, calmly. His citrusy beer is taken up and downed then, all in one chug, no sipping involved. He turns his face away, covering his mouth with the back of his hand as he absorbs the belch that should inevitably follow that. "Excuse me," for nothing.

"Logan, frankly I have to be the one that paves the way, nobody else. I'm the one that has everything to prove. So call it... insurance? On your part."

Wolverine has posed:
Logan eyes Sinister then eyes the new insurance policy. Logan doesn't say anything. He will go into his wall to leave a small stack of twenties. About four, he knows there's plenty to cover the cost. "Enjoy the food you, too," Logan's a bit pensive. Does he trust Sinister? No. However, that insurance policy is an olive branch and it's one he does see at face value. So, there is some repair, but he'll never say that.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue finishes her drink, looks to the money on the table and then glances to Logan. "You're leaving?" Asking this as she reaches to steal another piece of calamari since Nathaniel didn't stop her before. "Will you be home later? I shouldn't be too far after you I think, honestly..."

Sinister has posed:
Sinister looks at the dollar bills set out, then back up at Logan. Not a word is said and he makes no effort to pay his own tab, or you know... buy the bar or some nonsense. He simply nods, then looks at the box of vaccines, chewing on his cheek. No attempt was made to stop Rogue stealing calamari. Those things are meant to be shared anyway, that's why he tends to get shareable appetizers when out.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue watches as Logan leaves and then takes a breath to slowly let out. "He means well, I think. It's just hard to get him to trust. And I'm sure you and I could both come up with a hundred reasons why..." Offering this much before she lights up another cigarette, offering the pack towards Sinister. "So. What's the box for? I didn't look innit but I also didn't want it to just stay outside for anyone to grab."

Sinister has posed:
"I could say the same thing," Because there's a long history of that and Sin isn't forgetful by nature. Usually. A cigarette is taken and with a sigh, he lights up -- sounds like it was a relieved kind of sigh though, drawing deep and exhaling a smoke-ring with a pop of his jaw. The rest is blown out through his nose, dragonlike. "They're vaccines -- you tend to be a lot more reasonable to talk to, so... that township /is/ an experiment. But I assure you, not one that's bad for the populace. I set out to observe what happens to the general level of evolution of a given population, if given the perfect environment and removal of other biological stressors. Cancer is a large one for me, very few are beneficial."

Another drag is taken. "But the other versions of myself know about it also and keep track. I keep an eye on -them- when they're nearby, because I currently have a hate-hate relationship going on with my many faces."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue takes another drag off her cigarette while listening to Nathaniel. She has to smirk when he mentions that she's more reasonable to talk to. "I can see both ends of the candle that you're burning. Most people tend to just stare at the middle and wonder which end is going to reach it first." She says this much and flags down the waitress. "Can I get a pepsi and some fried pickles?" A smile then as she listens to Nathaniel explain the township experiment.

"Also, some people think that what you're doing, no matter what, is morally wrong. I don't. You can't expect to know how something is going to affect humans if you don't experiment on them... you're in a sort of gray area... which I don't care. The world is full of gray where people want it to be black and white."

Another pause, another drag on her cigarette and then she looks to the table and back up again. "This hate-hate relationship have anything to do with whatever the hell you and your boyfriend did at the mansion that one time?"

Sinister has posed:
"Pretty much. Although, it's amazing how much humankind forgets about. The united states government undertook nearly forty years of Eugenics experiments where they were selectively sterilizing the population and neutralizing thier reproductive capabilities, to purify the bloodlines. That tends to be usefully skimmed over, in history lessons. Because frankly, it would be embarassing to end the Nazis, only to have to admit you took a bunch of their ideology and tried to see if it would work in a 'humane'..." he airquotes "...fashion." The cigarette is spent out, stubbed in the tray and he nods, calling for a second beer tops with a small smile for the waitress.

"Essentially, yes. Along with a lot of other things that were done in a parallel, which woke up a good portion of the things I had forgotten and locked away. I'm still responsible, but i suppose you could say that I'm now... 'woke'?" he chuckles.

"He isn't a demon. My partner that is. He is... other. In a world of the Avengers and asgardians and metahumans, it isn't a stretch to state he is what he says he is. Besides, I've been to hell. I wouldn't recommend the real estate."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue listens and nods. "Funny how that all works... it's skimmed over. Hidden away. And yet..." She says this much and then smirks. "Hell one could stretch that Xavier's is kinda a gray area. A team of people who gathered a whole bunch of mutants to put them in one place to 'help'.." Yes, she airquotes as well, "them. It's all in the wording, and the curtain you hide it behind."

When he speaks on the things that happened at the mansion, and further what came from that she tilts her head as her pepsi is at least delivered. The glass lifted so she can take a long drink. "No. It's not a stretch. Logan believes your partner is the actual devil. I have no reason to think it's a lie. It's just kind of... interesting. Cause with all the other things you listed it's weird to know that a portion of what the Christians have been talking about is actually real as well."

Sinister has posed:
"Oh, trust me, it's a lot more real and a helluvalot more annoying than it has any right to be. I've been attacked by angels before. And insulted by them. I even had one imprisoned in my mind for a while, because it seemed like the best place for him to cool down..." Sinister sniffs. "Xavier even took my research when he named his school. It's convenient to call them the X-men after Xavier, but he took my research on the Essex genomic marker, shorted to the X mutation, to name them." He giggles somewhat at that, "....Oh dear me, but that would cause a great big argument and no mistake."

"Everything is always in the spin. The left, the right, the good the bad. The villain and the hero. As you noted; the black and white world that is truthfully just a big panorama of grey."

Rogue has posed:
Rogue nods, finishes her pepsi and then looks at the basket of pickles once it arrives. "Okay. I think we've hashed out the shop talk enough for the evening. I know you noticed me not wearing gloves, or even my suit. I'm almost sure you either have questions or you're just overall happy about it. So which is it?"

Sinister has posed:
"The latter. I knew you could get there, if you comprehended what the root of the issues were," Sinister's reply is simple, his beer taken up when its brought and enjoyed slightly slower than the last time. "It's nice to see a gifted individual not shielding the world from herself."

Rogue has posed:
"You helped. A lot. So I thank you. But it was also a lot of getting used to, and therefore controlling, my emotions and my powers together. I'm not perfect by any means, but I've learned to listen to myself. So on bad days when I might not be able to control them much... I either don't go out or I cover more skin." Rogue offers and then smirks. "But those days are getting fewer as well."

Sinister has posed:
"Good to know," Sinister chuckles, then with a bow of his head and a resumption of drink finishing he rises, levitating the vaccine box with it. "I'm going to take these back to the clinic, because there's a good many individuals who'd have to reschedule their appointments without it. Have a good evening, Anne-Marie. And thank you." Patpat on the box for why. He then flourishes an adieu and makes to do as he said he would.