15878/Interlude: Exploring the ARChives

Interlude: Exploring the ARChives
Date of Scene:	09 December 2023
Location:	Lucifer's Penthouse, Melville
Synopsis:	SOme discussion occurred and it turns out dimensional travel can have passengers
Cast of Characters:	Sinister, Lucifer

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Sinister has posed:
It has been a while, since the visit to the Arc and the realization of parallels. The conundrum in the continuum is therefore fresh in mind, but not immediate in thoughts.

It's been business as usual in NYC, the holiday season well into swing with office parties, company get togethers and after hours mischief indulged in the club. Who knows how busy one illustrious host has been?

But the penthouse is quiet. The fire is roaring and on the overstuffed gothic chaise, curled up with a 'good book' Nathaniel is looking over something. The minimal yuletide decorations glitter in the light from the flames, both a cheerful sight and vaguely ominous, given who lives in this particular skytop aerie.

The book is a ruse though, it's simply a fashion cover on a foldable smart screen, but sometimes, it's the feel of the thing that counts. Old leather and that 'smell' of knowledge.

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer tries to keep himself as least busy as possible during the holiday season. Though he needs to sometimes tried to balance out a few extra things so that he can divy out some extra money to his employees as bonuses. They appreciate that this time of year. Also, putting together a few seasonal festivities for the club, which will be interesting to go through with later.

None the less, he finally enters the Penthouse to find his lover fair all curled up in the overly plump gothic chair, holding that book, but something tells him he knows that there's a bit of a cover up going on there. "Heavy reading?" He asks this as he steps in and over to where Sinister sits all curled up.

He shifts to settle into the seat next to Nathaniel and then glances over towards what Nathaniel is doing. "So... I found out a few things when I went to visit Seven..." He offers. "I might need to go visit a very specific reality, because apparently one of the machines belongs to a Mister Fantastic..."

Sinister has posed:
Sinister's gaze shifts off of the ledger in his grip and onto the arrival of the most august of the Fallen. "Good session in the club?" is inquired before he replies to the question posed, turning the book so the smart pages and the various scientific cataloguing notes can be seen. "I'm going over some of my collection to see if any of it is remotely helpful to this ongoing issue. There might be a few applicable ones, but it will take me thinking outside of the box to utilize them."

He floats over a cup of tea, the sounds of coffee and whiskey being mixed in the kitchen drift over remotely. A sip is taken. "Interesting. I wonder how that even came to pass, considering it was my conceptual idea in more realities than the one. A mystery that will no doubt plague me. So what did you glean?"

Lucifer has posed:
"Dunno. Seven didn't seem too pleased or interested in the fact of it. And apparently Mister Fantastic - in that reality - is kind of a dick." Lucifer explains and then gives a shrug of his shoulders. Reaching out for the whiskey'd coffee that floats over, he takes a sip of it before breathing in slowly. "Has anything in your collection jumped out and screamed pick me yet?" Asking this before Nathaniel asks him about what he gleaned from his trip to see Seven.

So he explains everything, really. All that he learned from Seven, about the realities, the machines, and the personal relationship that was between Lucifer and Nathaniel from that reality. He likely gives the cliff notes version because otherwise it would take forever for him to explain. "Make sense?"

Sinister has posed:
"It does. Although I'm not sure why he mentioned Anna-Marie..." Sinister frowns at that information, twisting his jaw to the side and chewing on the cheek in thought as he's prone to do when puzzling. "I'll have to try and work out what I might've been trying to convey through him... peculiar." He looks at the book that is not a book, closes it and sets it on his lap to stare at the cover instead, because now the bee is in his head it's buzzing around.

"I find it comforting that we did find one another in more than one reality, by the by. But I'm quite glad that I can say I have this one as mine -- I feel that being forever detached whilst being united would be a strange kind of perpetual torment." He looks over at Lucifer at that, but gives a small, crooked smile with it.

"Maybe you can suss this one out..." he sips on his tea "...Anna-Marie's talent is an assimilative one, her genes are adaptive and she can therefore syphon energy from an individual and remap her own DNA to match their ability. It works by an invasive bio-field."

Lucifer has posed:
"I can't say, for sure, that early on in our relationship I would have made the same choice as him. Now, I can say with absolutely confidence I would..." Lucifer says this much before lifting his shoulders into a shrug. "I also don't know what mentioning Anna-Marie had to do with anything, and thought you might have a bit more insight into why he brought it up. I don't meddle in the affairs of you and your geneticist stuff... at least as little meddling as I can do unless you absolutely need me." Explaining that much more, if only because it will give him some time to try and link the two together.

Then Nathaniel explains how Anna-Marie's powers work and this has him perhaps thinking on many levels why that would be pertinent. "I wonder if he's more thinking that her powers may help to separate the two of them once again... if one could somehow separate Seven and put that Nathaniel back into some sort of other body again... if Anna-Marie can draw out powers and manipulate down to her very DNA...." He shrugs. It's just a theory really.

Sinister has posed:
Sinister looks at Lucifer sidelong for a moment, turning his face to examine more fully, then casts his eyes away, narrowed in the digestion of that first thought. There's a nod in the wake of it, "Hindsight is twenty twenty, I don't know that I would have done similar either, had situations been reversed. Emotion is an odd fish..." the book in lap regarded for a moment, there's a shake of his head in reply to the inquiry made before.

"Still drawing general blanks, but that's... normal until I start thinking in tangents and applications. Remove the extraneous, you're left with the blueprint of something potentially viable..." the reply is matter of fact and mildly distant, because of other factors being considered.

"That is, if his application of that thought had anything to do with himself. I know we're not prone to altruism, but... he seemed a little more pragmatic than the two of us seperately. It /is/ a puzzle."

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer is a bit speechless in the moment. He's not really sure what to say in the wake of the current topics of conversation either because he's not entirely sure he understands it all or just doesn't have much more to really input on the matter. "Can we re-visit the idea that I have about going and visiting Mister Fantastic? At the end of it all, do you think it's viable that we either get rid of the machine he has because it might be an outlier? Or is there a way to determine if that's the case? That maybe it might just also need adjusting with the rest of them?" He smirks. "I know you're also quite curious how he came to have one of the machines... we could sus that out if you really wanted us to..."

Sinister has posed:
Sinister looks at Luci again, full on with a blink, then a flutter of them. "I was talking in Nathanese again, wasn't I?" not a far stretch to summise such a thing, from the general feel of the drawing of blanks. So there's a nod, a smile, an easement and the closed book is floating -free- of their vicinity to the coffee table, tea in hand, coffee being had, spiked as it is. This is homely and does not involve the puzzle of unlocking potential and combining it with machinery. Again. Yet.

"I am curious, yes. I think that one is the anomaly of the bunch, but -how- did it happen? I have to wonder about that concept, as I doubt that most anyone else could have got their hand on a Feather of Uriel. Do you know much about the Fantastic Four?"

Lucifer has posed:
"You were... and of course that's fine. I'm just a little lost in the whole of it all. But that shouldn't be news, I stay lost in most of it until it suddenly clicks.." Lucifer offers this with a chuckle as he observes Nathaniel sort of putting things aside so that he can enjoy a doctored coffee. Reaching into a pocket, he pulls out his silver case of cigarettes, takes out two to light them, and replaces the case in his pocket before offering a cigarette over to Nathaniel. A little peace for them in the midst of the chaos that they have been dealing with. It's...yes...homely.

"I could go ask him." He says this finally. "I don't know a lot about them, no... but I'm sure I could learn about them if I really wanted to. Arm myself with such knowledge before going off to see what the story is in that reality.." This offered as he takes a drag off his cigarette and blows out that breath of smoke as if huffing - more so out of deep thought than annoyance or anything.

Sinister has posed:
"Indeed, you could." The cigarette is taken, indulged with a slow, deep inhale and less in the way of puffing out, his deep thoughts tend to be measured with him forgetting to do things like breathing. Nathaniel rests his head back on the couch cushions and then, with a due consideration, finishes his drink and swings himself all the way about to lie on the chaise, head resting on the arm rest closest to Lucifer. Ankles are crossed purposefully on the opposite end, as if this in itself, is a bit of an act of rebellion.

"One thing I -was- thinking of doing, was imbueing Technomancy into a device, by the by. I have a few individuals that had varying degrees of chromosomal anomallies that allowed both integration with, or superlative knowledge of machinery. If it is to be problematic to get through to fix things myself, I have to be able to reliably... assist. A synchronization of Douglock and Forge should take care of it." Another slow, deep inhale of the cigarette follows.

"Here, investigating them is a trivial matter. They're just about the most famous team of diplomats and heros south of the Avengers, depending on who you ask. Metahumans, to a man. Cosmic ray mutation on a cellular level." Drag, flick. "The determination may be finding the deviation point from our timeline and theirs, that managed to make an ass of Mister Fantastic."

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer blinks and then looks over to Nathaniel as he shifts to lie down closest to him. Listening to the man speak a bit more about some current plans, he has to raise a brow and try to follow along as best he is able to. Though it doesn't quite work out. "This is one of those moments where I'm going to have to ask you to explain that all again to me as if I am five years old and know nothing about science or technology..." He offers this with a gentle smile, taking another drag off his cigarette as he does.

"So it's likely going to take me learning about them here and then going there to do a little more investigating to see if I can figure out where things went tits up. Then, I will have to go actually talk to their Mister Fantastic and see if I can figure out just what to do with that machine they have in their possession." He chuckles then. "Is this something you'd want to join me on?"

Sinister has posed:
"Well..." ok, look at it simply. "I'm going to make a magic science charm that switches on the part of your mind that understands how mechanisms work, instinctually, by tapping into pattern recognition and systematic order. How to perceive the cogs in the clock, which will enable you to fix it on the places I can't go which..."

Wait a minute. Sinister blinks upside down at Lucifer and props himself up a bit, to swivel and stare. "I can travel with you? How?"

Lucifer has posed:
"It's no different than when I would take you to Hell with me every so often..." Lucifer explains. "Ah, so you're trying to work on something that will help my brain understand the science of things?" Asking this much just to sort of clarify the clarification. "Anyway... it depends on how I travel there I think...but I'm pretty sure you can travel with me." It's worked in certain circumstances, and since he can literally tear the fabric of reality as if to make a door...it should let more than himself in.

"I mean, if you want to. If you feel comfortable in trying and doing so.." Adding this on while a glass of whiskey floats his way and he plucks it out of the air to take a generous drink of it.

Sinister has posed:
"Huh. You know..." Sinister actually laughs now, as he props his elbow on the arm of the chaise, looking over at Lucifer with a mildly chagrined expression haunting at the edge of things. "...I thought the Hell thing was simply because it was your domain. You make the rules, etcetera. I didn't put two and two together to make four, quite right." He drags again on the cigarette, watches the whiskey a moment, then floats himself over a brandy, for once. The whole bottle and a glass.

"If you think it's possible to do so, without me ripping apart in the in between of things, I'll gladly go. It saves me having to try and work out the interfacing. That's always the trickiest part, because no two machines work the same way, exactly, unless the particular sample is of the same catagory."

Lucifer has posed:
"That made it...-easier-...in a sense. Cause I don't really have to rip reality to get there... but it's all the same concept." The Devil explains this much as he finishes his cigarette, crushing it into ash with his hand. "I do think it's possible, and I think I would feel a lot more comfortable with you going with me. Not that I don't trust myself...but I trust your knowledge in these things a lot more than in myself figuring it out..." He smiles at this and then finishes his first glass of whiskey, floating the bottle over then so he can give himself a refill. "It might turn out better for the end result that way."

Sinister has posed:
Sinister nods to that, staring off into nowhere. If the machine was dangerous for the 'wishes and fishes' that it could make you become lost in, a pseudo reallity vs an actual one, is a giant temptation. One might even feel the raising of a deadly sin or two, in the Geneticist, before he gets a handle on it.

Brandy is therefore shot back and a second is poured.

"Very good then, I shall... strive not to get too excited about the possibility." He managed to even sound convincing there, as if he MIGHT be capable of such a thing.

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer's senses tingle a bit with that notion of rising sins from the very one with the pseudo-name. "Ah... had to push down the idea of letting me feed a little off you, hmm?" Saying this with a hint of tease in his voice as he leans forward so he's near face-to-face with the man and then gives him a not-so-chaste kiss. "Why wouldn't you want to get all excited? I know you don't really subscribe to the magic of certain things...but I do like it when you get a little starry eyed at the thought of finally grasping the concept a bit." He winks at that before settling in his seat once more. "Is there anything you would need to do in order to prepare before we attempt to head there together?"

Sinister has posed:
Not so much caught by surprise as caught about to protest, Sinister had been about to speak when he's effectively silenced. Short black waves end up getting a good anchorage point as he reaches around to do take that punishment with dignity. Ahem!

"Not so much resisting feeding you, so much as resisting the urge to plan ventures I likely shouldn't plan; you likely got a smattering of avarice there and maybe some vanity." There's a grin, one that sobers to a mere glimmer of a smile.

"And nonsense. I subscribe to the magic, I simply strive to understand it -- and /that/ is the ongoing process. I think all I'd need is meditation and a field kit. But now you've got me all kinds of distracted, so -that- can wait for tomorrow. I want to do a spot of worshipping, if you don't mind."

So saying, he rises fluidly and leaves brandy and book upon the coffee table, looking down at the seated Archangel with palpable intent. A point, then another to the bedroom and with a grin, he heads that way.