15928/Of Coffee and Collaborations

Of Coffee and Collaborations
Date of Scene:	29 December 2023
Location:	The Coffee Bean - Manhattan
Synopsis:	Rogue and Sinister have a conversation about quantum devices and her role with them. They're joined by one Nick Drago. Small world.
Cast of Characters:	Rogue, Sinister, Phantasm (Drago)

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Rogue has posed:
Rogue is a woman who came from very limited means, raised on the streets, with a rough and tumble nature. So it's not likely anyone would expect her to be in a coffee shop, sitting at a nice table, with a simple cafe latte in front of her steaming away. Yet here she is. She's texted Doctor Nathaniel Essex with a simple request to meet her here so they could talk. She does have questions, sure, but this meeting is also being conducted without the presence of Logan - who sneers at Nathaniel every chance he can get, and doesn't like the idea of Rogue being involved in any of this end of the world nonsense in general.

Let alone the fact that she might be a key to something involved directly with it.

So here she sits, lifting her cup to take a sip while waiting to see if her requested company joins her. Hair tied up and back in a tight ponytail but that silver strip ever present. Jeans and a long sleeved tee shirt with black hand gloves on - for the just in case of course.

Sinister has posed:
Let it not be said that Doctor Essex is a rude individual. He can be, but it isn't the go-to for the victorian gentleman and monster; when people ask politely they usually get. Sometimes, they get more than they bargained for, but such is the nature of things.

He steps into the cafe, looking around with a fresh face on and collegiate high style; clearly HIS imaginary parents are loaded and ivy league alumni, judging by the very well tailored blazer, slacks, polo and designer labels hanging off in all directions... not literally of course. Lenon glasses of a pale pink sit on his nose as he takes stock, spots and approaches with a clipped step, glancing over to the barristas with a nod as he makes to take his seat.

"Anna-Marie..."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick is a guy with a tendency of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. As to how often that is due to outside influences, that is up for debate. Tonight however, Nick's presence here is less about manipulation and more about trying to get back some old routines.

Case in point a nearby college does have some notable offerings when it comes to music education and for a career musician, it doesn't hurt to continue to find ways to improve in the skills that get him paid. This explains where Nick was just awhile ago. But currently, the musician has opted to swing into the coffee shop to order himself a cup of hot tea. Today's tea of choice: Peppermint.

Now, what Nick isn't very good at is discerning people moving about outside of his field of vision, so when he turns around at the counter with his newly acquired drink in hand, he blinks to the sight of Rogue.

Wow. Talk about a deep dive when it comes to memories.

It certainly helps that they were weird ones to keep them memorable. Once he's sure the woman is glancing his way, he lifts up his cup in a bit of a mock toast.

As a dapper young Sinister comes near her table, the cup lowers as he tilts his head curiously.

Small small world.

Rogue has posed:
Eyes shift around the room for the moments before Nathaniel comes walking in, and when they meet the gaze of one Nick Drago there's recognition there, a soft smile, and a curt nod of her head. She likely remembers, but the trip down memory lane is not something she wants on the forefront of her mind right at the moment. Maybe it won't even come up at all and she'll get a whole pass.

Highly unlikely.

Then there is a Nathaniel, all young looking and sensible even if his entire outfit screams money and class. "Nathaniel. Thank you for meeting me here, especially on short notice. I just can't let go of some of the things from the other night when we were speaking, and I figured there was either a bit left unsaid because Logan couldn't steer the conversation any more than he could steer a bull... or I joined the conversation a bit late and missed some crucial parts." She smiles, sips coffee, and then gestures for the man to sit. "So. If you want to fill me in, I'm all for it."

Sinister has posed:
A hand is raised to Nick, a little up and down wriggle of the fingers to add to the gesture. He smiles, both to the man and to the woman at the table pressing her inquiries and he settles himself with a brief flick of cuffs and squaring of blazer tails, setting his phone beside him on the table. Another glance to the barrista has her making an earl grey with lemon and likely having no idea why she's doing so, although it wouldn't be a wild stab in the dark to put that on him.

"I dare say there's one or two things that are glaring in memory, my lovely, but it would /probably/ help if you pinned something down with a finger and said 'start with that and expand, please. Otherwise, we might be here all damn night and into next month..."

A gesture is made, a wave that could well be to Nick and it could also be to the unfortunate barrista with an unexpected cup of tea in hand. Either way, the gesture is welcoming and beckonning.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
With Sinister upping the interaction to a wave and confirming who he thought it was. Nick smiles lifts up his hand again to return the wave. A smile mirrors the one given. Being that the doctor was apparently about to converse with another, Nick was about to leave it be but then there was the beckoning motion. And then the cup of earl gray ends up being placed into his free hand.

The confused barista is looked at and then the tea. Pale eyes glance up over the cup to the most likely offender. Giving a slight chuckle, he moves over towards the shared table with both drinks in hand.

Rogue has posed:
"How about we start with what it is you've been workin' on that's pointed at me to be a link in the chain?" Rogue offers before she catches that welcoming gesture and glances back up and over to one Nick Drago. She swallows back a lump in her throat and then chases it with another sip of coffee. As Nick makes a closer approach, the Southern Belle offers up a charming smile. "Hello Nick. It's been a long while." It's a small world indeed, when one is able to link people together in more ways than one, as Nathaniel likely has no idea that Rogue is familiar with the Sorcerer Supreme as well.

"Also, for what it's worth, and while I know you'll wave it off because you expect it, and even welcome it... I am sorry that Logan can't seem to pull his head out his ass long enough to give you at least the courtesy you deserve to be heard. Instead he's already fillin' his head with shit he thinks he knows and assumes is correct. Goin' as far as telling me he's only stickin' around to be there when you, Lucifer and Betsy fuck up the whole thing cause you started it to begin with."

Sinister has posed:
"Yes, that particular note is getting a little bit old and for the life of me, I can't bring myself to show him the scientific evidence. He'd likely just stare at it like it's greek and him a plebian from the backwaters of Alberta..." Sinister inclines his head though, a silent acceptance of the apology by proxy. He sublimes the gesture to a polite nod to the approach of tea and man bearing tea. "Thank you Nick, I felt disinclined to get up and you were over there..." the grin he briefly flashes is a little cheeky, but soon settles itself back down.

If he caught the swallowing of the lump, he does not make any notice of it.

"Well. It's a long story, involving an oncoming meteor that dips into subspace and vanishes off the radar, the fact that the energy signature of that is linked to a Doom saga on multiple fronts and that we really don't have much to go on. So, I..."

Stop. Pause. Think. Frown. Press lips.

With a glance about the cafe, he shrugs oh-so-slightly; the crowd is likely to think this philosophy or a creative writing think tank, more than likely, but people begin to ignore them more, going about their own business.

"I created a quantum computer, to observe alternate choice paths through string theory. But in the multiverse theory, this is not the only reality where I did that and..." sigh "...multiple other parallels also made computers and none of them are completely aligned with this one, because of the nature of human error and minute design differences. This is the prime reality, all others take their cue from this one, but the others are making the clock tick off its seconds slightly... asynchronously. The predicator will not work properly, until everything is as aligned as it's going to get. Strangely, Logan was convinced that I was going to destroy all realities by my cock-a-mammy creation, but there's something to be said for who it was gave me the catalyst for its creation. It's mildly reassuring. And if you followed all of that, grand. If not, NOW is the time to pick it apart and question further."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Upon reaching the table, Nick takes a moment to hand over the tea that wasn't his own. Sinister's quasi apology gets a nod. "I can understand not wishing to move away from company." Turning his head to look to Rogue, "It's been awhile, Anna. Hope you're doing well."

As Sinister doesn't linger before going into an explanation of a topic he's already aware of he glances back to Rogue for a moment and then to Sinister. He doesn't say anything aloud but the question is still stated in some sense.

Same group as Betsy?

Rogue has posed:
"Okay. So what I know so far is that something is out there... and likely on it's way here...and you and yours are tryin'a stop it. Now you're tellin' me you've made some sort of device that speaks in quantum - more or less - and it's opened up the other worlds who have the same machine but they ain't rightly lined up with yours." Rogue paraphrases a lot and then takes a breath. "Why make this machine in the first place?" A pause. "And with this one being here..." She motions towards Nick then, and the talk of quantum machines and parallel worlds... what're the chances that I'm gonna be involved in something right alongside Doctor Stephen Strange ... again ... "

Sinister has posed:
Sin nods to Nick. You summized accurately.

He pushes his spectacles up his nose in a slow gesture using one pinky finger and eases back into his seat, gazing through them at a protracted angle to both younger-than-he people sitting here. Nick knows a great deal, none of this is news.

"Not so much opened them up, as jangled with them.... aaahhhmmm..." where do you begin to make this succinct? "Meteor coming," a finger held up, another "drags negative plane energy in its wake" another "nobody can tell exactly where it's going when it dips into subspace" another finger "the monstrous entity that it's heralding already reached out to Betsy and to the Devil himself, telling the archangel to pick the right side."

Briefly he gazes at his hand, closes the fingers again and begins over.

"We don't know the predication of actions ahead of time and this is -not- the kind of event you get second chances at, so it was determined that we needed a way of predicting or at least observing the potential outcomes of an action taken to counteract the oncoming nightmare, so I designed it. It looks at infinite probabilities through quantum string theory and it's powered by ..." pause, nope, just go on "...a mystically awakened moebius loop of a primary feather of the archangel Uriel. It calculates potential outcomes and displays them interactively, rather like the danger room. But it's glitchy, because Strange helped me to create the encasement for that power source that would probably have destroyed anything else I attempted to use it with and it infused it with well.... Strange-Ness. A residual of that, because of who Strange is, chronologically focused -this- machine as being the locum to all others that got made in parallel timelines and there are not that many of them. But no two things are alike, even when they're made by the same hand, not even clones. There's tiny differences. But on the calibration of /such/ a machine, tiny variations can cause all kinds of havoc."

Inhaling, he sighs out the breath. "There was a quantum event were all the other machines were briefly visible, but like a metronome out of synch, it'll take a while for all the variations of the machine to tick back to the locus. But they've got to align better. And somehow... ahhhh... you might be important in that, as was informed to me by... well, kind of myself. Long story. Apparently in one parallel I didn't exactly survive."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
As Nick is gestured to, the musician blinks as Rogue determines his presence means Strange is involved somehow. How presumptuous. Ok YES, the time he met her involved a field trip to the Nexus of realities LED by Strange and had an odd battle of sorts with another entity. And sure he's kind of independent studying off and on again at that doctor's school but he hangs out with other people.

No really!

Sometimes he's getting shooting lessons from formerly brainwashed super soldier assassins.

Considering the topic matter and how the conversation's going, Nick pulls up a seat so at the very least they're not having to speak louder than necessary.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue listens and then she thinks on things, she thinks for a long time. Finishing her coffee, she turns to look at the barista to perhaps motion for a refill. She might even order something to eat. All the while she is silent. For the duration of Nathaniel's entire breakdown of the situation, to several lingering moments after while she processes everything.

Then, it's like a little lightbulb shines over her head.

"Do you think that the fact that I can drain things... is what I might be destined to do. If I can drain the power from all these devices and then restart them all at the same time to align with the...prime reality... but that sounds almost impossible and even stupid to think since that's a LOT of realities and I am just one person..."

Powerful enough to kill. To permanately steal abilities. So...it's a thought?

Sinister has posed:
"It's potentially a solution, aye. Although, I would have to figure out how you could drain the energy from non-living matter. Honestly, how you fit in has left me baffled. But that particular conundrum is what had me going for a fly and a think the other night." Sinister spreads one hand to a shrug and reaches for his tea, indulging in a couple of sips with a satisfied smack of lips.

"Lucifer wants to see if he cannot plane hop to one iteration or another, but I'm... wary of that particular scenario, not because I doubt that -he- can do it, but that if he drags anyone else with him, it might be disasterous for whomsoever goes with him. The universe, I'm fairly certain, has a few laws. Otherwise, we'd be riddled with parallel selves wandering around and time would be an utter mess."

He glances to Nick, blinking owlishly over his teacup at the man. "Have I missed anything, my friend?"

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick glances over to Sinister as he is looked at. "The general sense I got was that the need to make sure all the related devices were set up the same and the concern about Meeting others in a safe enough manner to coordinate that." Nick responds, more or less not adding anything in. "Kind of makes me wish there was a messaging system of sorts that could allow for that without having to make the trips over."

Nick lifts up his own tea for a sip.

Rogue has posed:
"Would be really interesting if Lucifer is meant to be the lifesource I need to pull from so he's the conduit between all the units and me turning them off..." Rogue says this much with a little laugh just as her refill of coffee is being served. "Could I get a grilled cheese, please?" Asking this before she looks between the two who are in her company right now. "I think there seems to still be a lot of unknown factors. I trust you're still workin' out all the ifs and whats and everything in between..." She hasn't questioned the technology side of things because she actually understands that more than she lets on. Blame it on all the time she's spent with Beast over the years.

Sinister has posed:
Hank McCoy definitely has a lot of clout in the inventions and science department. Sinister might even respect the man, from a safe distance. But Nick's gone and said something and Essex looks at him under lowered lashes, over his tea and with a lengthy lack of blinking. "Nick, what's Gabriel the archangel of?" he asks, mildly.

He then looks at the spot in the middle of the table, mulling things over. "I'm not generally an indecisive kind of man. I never have been, which I consider to be a strength I came by honestly. But I will admit, the cogitation of that conundrum and all the whys and wherefores of it, have had me perplexed. The mathematics of it all do require being rather precise, without much room for error, not really because anyone would be in danger of breaking the engine, but more because there's not a lot of time during the brief windows where they all synch up."

He glances fleetingly at Rogue and back to the spot on the table. "I would hasten to observe that if Lucifer -was- the source, you might have to do a few practice runs. Messing with celestial mojo is more than just a slight headrush. Trust me on that."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
And so with one quick comment followed by a more pointed response, there is the birth of yet another series of motions. Sip completed, the cup rights itself, setting down upon the tabletop. There's no answer given to Sinister's question, but with the slight uptilt of the side of Nick's lips, and his reaching into a pocket to pull out a small notepad seems all the response necessary.

Rogue has posed:
"Hell of a problem to have, Nathaniel.." Rogue says this gently while looking over to him and giving a soft smile. "I understand most of what you said. Perhaps I could come and see if the machine reacts to me in any way... or something... who knows. In this age of mysticism and wonder... I don't think we can afford to leave any thought unturned." She glances to Nick then and her smile grows a little. "Seems like life has done you good, Nick. It really is nice to see you again, even if it is, once more, under unusual circumstances."

Sinister has posed:
Sinister smiles faintly to himself, then indulges deeply of his tea, both hands eschewing the saucer and handle, to curl themselves about the heat of the bowl itself. On occasion, one must simply accept that NYC is bloody cold this time of year and even if you can withstand such temperatures as would kill most, it's still nice to cling to the warmth.

He lets Nick do his jotting and Rogue her inquiry, not replying to her observation with anything more than a half-smile, because his attention like his fingers, have gone a'wandering. Staring a hole through the table, there's a slow frown that begins, a tension around his eyes that remains even when HE forgets to blink. Like, at all.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
The slight smile dies away at Rogue's comment. "Well- Life is...life. It's a bit of a mix. A lot happened since we last met." Notepad retrieved, he fishes out a pen from its spiral confines and then starts to flip through. A flurry of random sentences, scribbles, and notations come to view before the pristine lined surface of an unused page comes out on top. "I'm finding the circumstances of most of my run ins with people have some semblance of unusual nowadays."

Nick takes a breath before the pen starts moving, jotting down words and phrases that come to mind.

Gabriel. Messenger. Herald. Trumpet. Scroll. Sceptre. Patron saint of Postal Workers, radio broadcasters, telecommunication workers... Pretty much if it involves communicating, they're the one to pray to...

Rogue has posed:
Rogue takes a moment to nod at Nick's words, and it's after that when she realizes that Nathaniel has been silent. "Life is, often times, what we make it. But when one surrounds themselves with people who are....unusual..." She responds to Nick and then notices. Sinister is like really silent. When she looks to him, he's just staring and unblinking. "Doctor Essex? Do you need to reset yourself?" Asking this even as she decides the best thing to do is to reach over and place a hand on his shoulder to give a gentle squeeze. "...Nathaniel?"

Sinister has posed:
Will he wake up, won't he wake up....

Will you, won't you, will you, won't you....

Well, he's not even breathing, he has apparently forgotten to do even that, obvious when his shoulder's squeezed so. Composition work and brainstorming is occuring not that far from him and he's somewhere in...

Suddenly, there's a blink and a suck in of breath, Sin's attention lifting to stare at Rogue for a moment, then at Nick's writing, his phone, the TV playing in the cafe, the security camera, the machine to make espressos, device after device after device.

"Nooooo...." is said softly, in the kind of realizational tone that says 'yes, yes indeed, why didn't you think of that sooner?'

His glasses are removed and he pinches at the bridge of his nose, rubs finger and thumb over eyes that fleetingly close. "I... think I might just be an idiot.... temporarily at any rate."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
When it comes to music, it takes quite a bit to get Nick to break away from it. Idle chit chat kind of fades into a low background hum when he gets focused on something. It would indeed take something quite unique.

Such as Sinister calling himself an idiot.

The pen pauses. "What's that, Nathaniel?" Nick asks.

Rogue has posed:
Rogue blinks and then tilts her head when Nathaniel suddenly sort of comes to and then begins to mumble to himself. "What in the nine levels of hades makes you think yourself an idiot? Cause you didn't catch somethin' that was at the tip of your nose?" She asks in that very southern way of doing so. A little smile even as her sandwich is finally brought to her, and she takes a sip of coffee to let the sandwich cool. "We should have met outside. I'd like a smoke."

Sinister has posed:
"Oh, if you want a smoke, go ahead, nobody is going to look at you doing so and it won't travel. I guarantee it," because he's about to roll up from a tobacco pouch himself, extracted from the inner pocket of his blazer. It might be a mystery why he's doing hand-rolled ciggies at the moment, but it seems to be the case, painstakingly rolled in their paper, licked and preened to the right shape as they are.

Good to know he can sometimes knock a surprise out, though... a grin is flashed at Nick, complete with those extremely pinchable dimples.

"You might have multiple functions in this little caper Anna-Marie. I just had an ephiphany moment of indeed, not seeing something infront of my own nose. Or not seeing the wood for the trees - pick a metaphor and run with it, right?" He chuckles, sets the smoke to his lips and lights with a match. "You, I think, are the key to enabling everyone in the team to be able to work on the machines at the same time, without error."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick's expression remains curious even as he's grinned at. When it's mentioned how Rogue can enable everyone to work on the machines at the same time, he still has his head tilted, trying to determine how flight and super strength would be applied in that manner. It seems the musician didn't get the memo on other abilities.

"How so?"

Rogue has posed:
Rogue takes the moment of reassurance to pull out her own pack of smokes and goes through the motions to light one up. She uses a lighter. The pack is also offered to Nick - just in case. She can't remember if the man smokes or not. When Nick still seems a bit puzzled, she actually gives a smirk of her own, as it dawns on her that Nick has only really seen her use her flight and super strength. "My actual mutant power, Nick, is that I can drain the life force of people. For mutants, I can steal their powers - normally for a temporary time - but to much detriment of the one I'm pulling from. I won't go into details of the many ways this has gone horribly wrong in my past, but it's actually also the reason why I have strength, flight, and speed." She explains to the man and then turns her attention to Nathaniel.

"Not to sound like an echo, but to mimic dear Nick, how so indeed?"

Sinister has posed:
"That's the reason, Anna-Marie -- that ability to siphon..." Sinister looks at the two of them, then points to his phone. "Technopathy; inherant knowledge of something you created and the ability to control it with nothing but thought. It's been bothering me that these devices were created -by- me in various iterations across the timelines, but that makes it very tricky for me to be able to explain and express to people just -how- to recalibrate and fix what I've made, without extremely awkward manoeverings. But..." he gestures to Rogue "...I can, I think, dilate the power across the group of you and lend you the ability to... ahhh... use me."

He pauses here. "Which I have a feeling Lucifer is going to hate with an extreme passion."