16734/Interlude: So. They discovered the Xerox problem.

Interlude: So. They discovered the Xerox problem.
Date of Scene:	15 April 2025
Location:	Lucifer's Penthouse, Melville
Synopsis:	Well, now Nick knows there are clones that are all kinds of weird and that they're in regeneration. They live. Though there might have been death by chocolate to follow.
Cast of Characters:	Sinister, Phantasm (Drago), Lucifer

---

Sinister has posed:
It has been about a week since the events of the submarine, which is enough time to process information to a degree, if you happen to be named Doctor Essex. It's also time enough for the regeneration vats to have done as good a job as they can do, without outside interference.

This is what has lead to today -- this is probably a cruelty, but there's also a kind of perverse moral argument in favour of there being a choice in such things. How far do you want me to go, in the scheme of things? Or is this a thing that should be purged in flame, or left to quietly snuff itself in the dark, never to awaken?

This is what elicited a text message on the encrypted phone channel, to Nick Drago: The invite to come on over, to bring your hard thinking hat and a bit of ablative coating for the heart or the soul, depending on your perspective. Whiskey is optional.

Sin's sitting staring at the fire, all hunkered up in the big ass chair, his computer idling nearby and a holoscreen displaying only a blipping cursor as it hovers there, intangible but photonically relevant in the world around it. He sips cognac, glancing at the darkness outside and the city lights far away and back to the flame. "This might be a very bad idea. Just observing."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick should be used to odd text messages by now. He really should. And yet when he looked to his phone, there was a need to read it more than once.

Who types ablative in a text message?

...

Either way, the message is read, there's a momentary pause to look up the less frequently used vocabulary, and soon the musician is on his way over with his arrival likely pinging on the Sindar.

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer is actually against this. The whole having Nick come over and tell him to his face what they found on that submarine. Of course, that might be the familial bond slithering it's way into Lucifer's emotional output. Still...

"I'm not telling him. YOU can tell him. Show him. Whatever you wish. I'm not." Because sometimes Lucifer takes charge in saying things. Maybe to soften the blow. Maybe to de-science it...or something. Not this time.

Instead, he's in the kitchen. Making brownies.

Sinister has posed:
Brownies after all, will be an essential cushion. So much of a cushion that they might be worthy of building the entire couch out of, apholstery and all.

"I wouldn't dream of asking you to do my dirty work. I've been many things in my life, but a coward in that respect is beyond even me..." Sinister replies, looking over to the kitchen, then the elevator for that inevitable DING.

When it arrives -- "...There are brownies. I think at least a batch of them are loaded with THC and cannabinol." INhale "I'm sure you're mildly curious and/or apprehensive, depending on how far I missed my mark. Come in. Get comfortable. I have to lull you into a false sense of security and all that nonsense."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
It's the smell that hits first. A delicious smell of chocolately goodness. Then the general advisement of one of the batches being dosed with something else. And likely not labeled.

Button button. Who's got the button?

"Oh darn." Nick responds, voice a bit monotone. "What if work has a test?"

...

Yeah. That's probably not going to happen in his career field.

Stepping off of the elevator, pale eyes glance in the direction of the kitchen and then over to Sinister.

"Considering the last discussion and that you brought out the controlled substances, I'm running under the assumption that you've got bad news."

There's a slight nod before Nick turns towards the kitchen. "...That in mind. Yes I will have a brownie."

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer doesn't miss a beat once he notices Nick is in the building. "Far right has weed. Middle has CBD oil. This batch is just normal. And I'm making one with nuts and caramel now."

His voice is....monotoned? Distant? Perhaps a little bit of both. Whatever it is, he's certainly not a happy chap this evening. One of the cabinets open and a small plate floats out and settles in front of Nick so he can take his pick and then go settle.

"Milk in the fridge if you want, or orange juice which some how goes good with brownies though I have no idea as to why. Or you can help yourself to whiskey. If you want something else, I can ask the bar to serve you a beer or mixed drink."

Sinister has posed:
There is a gesture of accord to the beautiful intoxication of the brown smorgasboard. When Lucifer makes a hash cake, it's a proper dealio. With varieties and flavours and strengths, it would seem.

"Well, they'll have to work around you being higher than the empire state, as the saying goes..." Sinister looks long and calm over at Lucifer, then shrugs his shoulder, just the right one, ever so slightly. Somewhat noncommitally.

"Bad news is relative. It's your relative that's grumbling about the potential of it being just that..." Sin sighs softly, then crosses his legs at the knee, stretched out comfortable by the hearth. "Well. You might even be proud of me, all things considered. I'm thinking of the right to choose. If I was not, I'd not give you the choice and that might be reprehensible in its own right. We did find your anatomical photocopier had gone to town, thanks to what Hydra did. Not all of them are still alive. Some are. Some are.... how shall I put it... in need of a thorough clean up. Or, I can let them slip away. I felt you should have input, Nick. AS they are part of you, if no longer your property." Pause. "That's just a law thing, by the by. You surrender your DNA in public, it becomes public property and you forgo the rights to it. Even if it was technically stolen."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Well... not only are there brownies, there's a lot of them. With all the variations listed, Nick lifts a brow to look over to Lucifer. "That's... a lot of options." Considering the sheer amount, Nick grabs a napkin and grabs two. Starting from the far right. It seems like the type of news waiting is going to need those.

Comfort food and milk acquired, Nick moves over to where Sinister is waiting. And as the doctor uses words longer than necessary it takes Nick a moment to parse out the meaning.

"...Oh. They cloned me?"

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer puts the next batch of what will be chocolatey, carameley, nutty brownies into the oven. The oven door is shut and then he takes a breath. Knowing full well what Nathaniel might do or say when that singular question is asked. He vowed to stay out of it. Well. Internally anyway....

"Over and over again. We have a few of them. You get to choose whether they live and Sinister gets to be Sinister with them. Or we let them fade away into the void eternal - in which they die. Or ... best of both worlds. We keep them alive long enough to have dastardly things done to them...and THEN let them die." He turns to look at Nick then. "And your input is being requested. How do YOU feel about clones of you living or dying."

This is said. Then he makes a little 'hmph' sound and turns back to the brownies.

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer then suddenly interjects, "Oh. And do keep in mind that there is no possible option of them returning to or becoming a part of normal society. They are too broken. In many ways." THEN ... brownies.

Sinister has posed:
Sinister listens to Nick's reply, including the babble that is trying to make sense of Nathaniel himself. He is what he is and it elicits a half-smile and a small self-amused shake of the head. Both hands are used to gesture toward the actor-singer then with a raised eyebrow, though the gesture is lowered as he listens to the somewhat... ruffled devil go off on one in laymen's terms.

"He's right. They xerox'd you, to put it simply. The doctor was good, but I suspect he didn't have much to work with and even with cell culture, that material is fissble and eventually degrades, when you add that you can't clone mystical whoof-tadaaa." That is now a phrase.

He looks to the screen, which shows half a dozen tanks, none of which are particularly clear from here and more in the background in a primordial soup of floatypeople. He did take a lot from the ocean's dark embrace after all.

"They're stabilized. Basically, at this point, they get a shot. Or they don't. But I'm not pulling the plug, because I'm not sure -you- would, Nick. And they are, on some very bizarre levels... you. Clones are peculiar that way." He would know.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick looks over to Lucifer as he gets to the point rather quickly.

Ah.

That is a heavy question indeed.

Nick frowns as he looks over to Sinister as Lucifer heavily implies a less than pleasant fate should they be allowed to be. When his attention is directed over to the screen to see them in tanks.

Was this a branch off of Nightingale?

Oh-Bean would not like this...

"...What are the odds that they would be able to make the decision themselves if given the opportunity?"

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer isn't going to interject any further. He just wanted to sort of jump-start the conversation cause Nick didn't seem to get it at first. Brownies in the oven will take about ten more minutes to bake, and then he'll need to pull them out and let them cool. For the time being, he grabs a couple of other brownies and then shifts so he can go and sit at Sin's feet for ten minutes.

He does this for two reasons. One is it lets him be as close to Sin as possible without having to sit on his lap. Two, for some reason it calms him to sit at his lover's feet. He's not upset at Sinister at all. He's really just upset that this whole cloning thing happened before they could get ahead of it. The bastard doctor in Hell will talk. WILL. Lucifer has ways of getting that done.

A bite is taken out of one brownie and the other offered to Sinister.

Sinister has posed:
The arrival of the devil at his feet pauses the reply that he might have made to Nick initially. There's a neck that needs to be rubbed and hair that needs to have fingernails raked through it and over scalp. There's also a sling of the arm around the shoulders that needs to be had for a closeness and a kiss to the corner of the mouth -- the brownie is taken and he eases back, legs a nice prop for leaning against and he looks to Nick.

"That would be potentially a thing that could happen. Only, to do so, they would have to be regenerated to the point where they could wake up and inform us if they wanted to die or not. Which... well, at this juncture..." he shrugs lightly.

"As noted, they're a little frazzled in the head. You'd have to save them in order to condemn them. If you get my meaning."

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick frowns. "I think if you're at the point of asking me to make a life or death decision for other people, I'd rather not leave things left up to assumption." The brownie, while collected, is not consumed at this moment and instead rests on the napkin.

Treats of those nature will be left until after the stuff requiring all of him to be present is taken care of.

A hand lifts up pinching the bridge of his nose. "...By Frazzled in the head and that this is tied to something possibly related to Hydra, I'm left to assume you mean that they were subjected to some form of mind games or manipulation of that manner. Is that correct?"

Lucifer has posed:
Lucifer lets his eyes close and perhaps there is even a faint murmur or perhaps something very akin to a purr that emits from the Devil while his neck is rubbed and hair is raked. It can be interesting what may soothe the beast that lies beneath the mortal shroud Lucifer wears. That might be an experiment all on it's own.

He will still not answer anything. Letting the explanation come from the Doctor. He knows what he saw. He has questions he wants answered. And perhaps even if the tubed clones are allowed to die there will be samples taken that can be studied even after death.

Morals and ethics be damned.

Sinister has posed:
"Yes. Correct. Repeatedly. Extensively. And although it /is/ possible to undo that, it is a long and drawn out process, or it's completely /different/ kind of brainwashing. I can do it, but then I have to carefully craft it all from the ground up. And they -are- you. Leastwise, they're mostly you. Plus a bit." The raking of hair resumes, a little rubbing of the thumb behind the ears.

Sinister gives Nick a long look, cocking his head oh-so-slightly to the side. It's not quite impassive, but it's intense in a peculiar way. Monitoring perhaps, for how the subtleties are playing out, and there is not a single tickle in the mind that suggests he's listening there, either.

"They're you. I am not going to advise or disadvise. But there is one out there free, I think. I sensed... one vanished before we finished what we had to do." He pauses "There's also a lot of prisoners that are going to be given their freedom and the option to live in a protected facility if they wish. If not, I am not going to protect them from what might come." He shrugs. That is apparently not negotiable. He's only got -so- much nice in him.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick's jaw clenches, eyes closing as he processes the confirmation. How...Hydra of them. Yet another repeat play, but because of that-

"I know it can be hard to mostly recover from the effects. It can take a lot of time as well. But- If that's the main reason why you're hesitant to help them. Don't let it."

He lifts the glass of milk, which he assumes is one of the few things offered tonight that wasn't dosed.

Right Lucifer?

...

We'll just assume that.

"They got a bad round but...things can get better. If they're given a chance."

Lucifer has posed:
Well the question wasn't asked so Lucifer cannot confirm that the milk is, indeed, not dosed with anything. Why ruin a good glass of cold milk? He does take a bite of his brownie and - as he has been - remains utterly quiet.

Besides, the ten minutes are likely up since he's been down and so he'll shift gently away from Nathaniel and goes to the kitchen to get out the new batch of unlaced, but utterly decadent, brownies.

Sinister has posed:
"Very well then," Sinister looks to the holoimages and at once, several nano-tentacles form out of floor and ceiling where they're at and begin pressing buttons and doing other things. With a wave of his hand the imager is dismissed and he fleetingly watches Lucifer go about the business of yummy treats.

"It's exceptionally surreal, no matter how often I see it, to witness the devil himself having a grand old time being a savante in the kitchen. It's one of those things that not a single person would ever believe if you told them."
There's a shift in accent, a bit po-dunk, but he's hardly putting much effort in. "Lord o' hell and bakery? Y'all yankin' my chain, buddy. Fire'n..." -- his own voice -- "...toasted marshmallow s'mores if you must know."

There's a half smile, a sly side-eye toward Nick.

"I might teach you how to ride behind the eyes of a clone. There's a technique to it, because fundamentally they're you, with a few tweaks. When you have psychic ability, you may be able to see what they see, from time to time. I doubt you'd be up to what I do." Full consciousness transfer? Nope. Probably not.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
With the matter apparently settled. Nick watches the movement on the screen as the blurry identified clones are included on the another chance at life. It's funny if one thinks about it. How loathe he is to condemn one set, but in other times he's a bit quicker in eliminating them.

Then again usually the ones on the receiving end of his claws or teeth tend to have been in the act of trying to shoot him or friends. So-...apples and oranges perhaps.

Either way the clones have their second chance to make with it what they please. Hopefully they make good use of it.

Then the topic switches over to something a bit more pleasant. The transition is accepted with a quick sip of milk and a bite into one of Lucifer's enhanced brownies.

"Considering the devil title, I'm a little surprised that we've yet to experience him making chocolate cake." The musician chuckles, "But brownies are pretty rich by themselves so this works too."

Pale eyes study the brownie he bit into. It's probably too early for the additives to be doing the talking- "These taste great, Lucifer."

Sinister's side eyed offer gets rewarded with a side eye of his own. "...Something similar to the danger sense you put in between my dad and me?"

Lucifer has posed:
"Do you want me to make a chocolate cake? Cause I will make a chocolate cake if you want me to. Hell, now I'm just gonna make one out of spite because of that comment alone...." Lucifer says this much and then begins to clean up and clear off the island of the things he doesn't need for cake but did need for brownies and brings out the things he will need for cake that he didn't need for brownies. There's also a jar of maraschino cherries and he calls down to the bar asking for a couple of cherry flavored liquors to be sent up to the Penthouse.

You two can talk all the shop you want now. The Devil has been sent on a mission from...Nick.

Sinister has posed:
Sinister has to arch an eyebrow at the Devil's reaction to the challenge of Devil's food. But it's chocolate, so there must be a get-out-of-hell clause for the calling of it into being. "Now you've done it," but there's the potential of cherry liquors and marascinos in the offing, which more than makes up for it. "You will have to take a good deal of this home, you realize. What isn't going to go to the staff that is, in the aftermath..."

A crooked smile follows and a simple nod. "Well, something similar yes. I don't know if you'll be an apt student of the psychic, but you do have potential toward that. The dreams come from the subconscious after all..." he shrugs and settles in. "But as for me and right now, I intend to get stoned on brownies. The messy business of packaging up care packages and making the demons indulge in normality will be for later."

A broader grin.

Phantasm (Drago) has posed:
Nick glances over to Lucifer as he starts to make do on his threat. "...I think we have enough chocolate based items right now. But maybe for another time?" He suggests. "I'm not even sure the three of us will be able to finish off the brownies you made before they go bad...Unless you're planning to take the extras downstairs to share with the staff."

Surely that's the reason for making so many, right?

Getting a sort of confirmation from Sinister, Nick nods. "...It'd probably be good if someone can pick up on that. Just in case they get in trouble..." He gives a slight smile, "Alright. We can give it a go. Later."

After the brownies wear off, that is.