1955/Weapon X: Work In Progress

Weapon X: Work In Progress
Date of Scene:	13 August 2017
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Sabretooth, Sebastian Shaw, Domino, Tessa

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Sabretooth has posed:
Place: Arkham Asylum, Gotham City
Time: Right Before Dinner

There aren't any clocks in Arkham Asylum, at least not anywhere that the inmates can see them. It's not because they don't want the inmates to know what time it is, but rather a preventative measure that was taken last time that one of the inmates built a bomb out of clock parts and toiletries. But even though there isn't any way to tell time, it seems like they always know that it's almost time for their legally-required dinner.

Considering that many of these psychos are wanted for dozens of murders, the fact that the taxpayers of Gotham are paying to feed them at all might seem like an insult. Fortunately, however, the slop they feed the residents of Arkham is pretty... Dickensian.

That doesn't stop the inmates from jockeying for the first place in line.

Today's winner, in an unexpected turn of events, is the Ventriloquist, accompanied by the puppet that he's drawn on his hand. It's not quite as impressive as the actual Scarface, but there's no way the asylum's administrators are going to let him back in shop class after what he did last time...

The Ventriloquist is quickly pushed out of the way by a larger inmate. Victor Zsasz usually doesn't care much about the food in this dump, but rumor is that tonight there might be Jell-O.

However, Zsasz is pushed out of the way as well, by the giant, partially-reptilian Killer Croc. Nobody bothers to challenge HIS place at the front of the line...

As the chow line opens, and the inmates start getting their trays of food, it looks like it's going to be a normal evening at Arkham. Relatively uneventful, aside from some insane muttering and the occasional round of sobbing from Calendar Man.

Or at least it looks like it'll be uneventful until the Riddler holds out his tray for some of Arkham's finest meatloaf. He looks up at the cook who is serving the processed meat lump, and immediately does a double-take.

Most of the cooks are other Arkham inmates. Scary-looking dudes with a bunch of tattoos. But the guy who's plopping lumps of meat on trays isn't one of Arkham's inmates, even though he almost looks the part. Long, metallic fingernail claws and yellow cat eyes differentiate him from any of the other inmates, and the Riddler isn't medicated enough to not notice. He slowly steps back from the line, and looks around frantically for the exit.

"Whassa matter, Nigma? Did you think Weapon X would forget that you downloaded our files? You knew we couldn't let you keep that shit in your brain, right?"

Sabretooth drops his meatloaf-dispensing tongs, and rips the hairnet off of his head as he leaps over the counter with his claws extended, ready to rip the knowledge right out of his target's head. But just as his claws are about to make contact, The Riddler shimmers and freezes, a horrified expression on his face, and then disappears entirely along with the entire rest of the asylum. In their place, there's nothing but a blue screen and an annoying buzzing sound.

Place: Secret Weapon X Bunker
Time: Right Before Breakfast

"Dammit! It did it again!" Sabretooth rips off his VR training helmet and tosses it across the giant empty traning room. It shatters satisfyingly upon impact with the wall, but that only abates his anger slightly. "EVERY time I get ready to rip that stupid look off his nerdy little face, the simulation freezes! I'm just gonna have to go to Arkham and rip him to shreds for REAL!"

Sebastian Shaw has posed:
Standing in a small room away from the people in the VR training Shaw sighs again. He was starting to regret this whole Weapon X thing as it is becoming more of a hastle then it was worth. He had spent a good amount of contacts, and money to get this running again though how deep his involvement was might not be common knowledge to the group that are here. Shaw did not share his secrets not even with Sabretooth as he felt it was better to let them guess only showing as a donar at times, though he had no real fear of the man 'taking over' as it was best to work from the background. He would just stear them the right path when he was ready, but for now he just watched as the 'leader' of the group just broke another very expensive piece of equipment again.

He says in a low voice... "Order another group of VR helmets... this seems like it is going to happen quite often." before he leans forward, and hits a button to turn on the intercom. "We all know your way of handling things, but if you can not do it without bringing attention to yourself then it is a fail... Pick it up, and do it again." his voice not stressed, but the authority in the voice is there for sure. Turing off the intercom he looks at his data-pad.. They were behind schedule yet again, and this display of anger was not helping them though what did he expect from a goverment weapon.

The man wore a nice suit, the kind of suit most people would never be able to aford in a lifetime. He straightened his cuffs before he looks to the side of him.. "Did you get any new readings from him during the test? We need to find some thought that will motivate him, yet not anger him to the point of foolishness." before he holds up a finger in a wait motion. He flicks on the intercom just long enough to add.. "The goverment is not hiring you to massacure everyone.. stealth, and silence is the way things work now.. We are no longer fighting an open war." before he turns it off again.

Domino has posed:
"See, this is why we can't have nice things," Domino says from the other side of the training room. She's leaning against the wall against one of the exit doors, dressed in long black satiny PJ bottoms and a shorter black t-shirt, midriff partially exposed, arms folded across her chest.

She moves away from the wall, towards Sabretooth. "C'mon Vic, might as well get something to eat. Breakfast is my treat," she offers.

Tessa has posed:
There's a training observation room, with a little microphone and speaker to talk to those inside, because why wouldn't there be? The woman sitting in the chair next to Sebastian Shaw is dressed in a black suit with pants, glancing at the readings briefly as Sabretooth throws his helmet off. Tessa doesn't speak over the intercom. She hasn't been asked to. Instead, she waits for Shaw to address her, before speaking to him without even glancing over from the room. "My analysis hasn't changed. His predator instincts are top-notch, but acts too hastily on emotions, as seen there. Furthermore, as a stealth operative, his suitability for infiltration is limited. Without makeup or illusions, he stands out." It's a brief summary, as she takes a second to move over and start pointing at the room. Since it's empty...it looks like she's pointing randomly, but she's actually marking exact locations of the simulation. "If the simulation had continued, Creed would have slaughtered his target, 99% probability. However, this would have caused a riot immediately, as the inmates of the asylum either get panicked or decide to take advantage of the chaos. This would lead to a breakout in 93% of possibilities unless security teams were prompt - while useful as a distraction, the entire mission would go loud, and exfiltration would be difficult and certainly bloody." Moving back to her chair, Tessa glances over to Shaw.

"He wants to kill. He is a predator, and likely has prey in mind. That prey would be motivation, but I cannot be sure of what would occur if presented." Tessa puts a hand on her chin, looking as if she's in thought, but really, it's a resting position. "His best use is for missions that we have no issue with noise occuring. Full stealth infiltration and exfiltration is unsuitable for him at this current time."

Sabretooth has posed:
His helmet gone, and the illusion of the virtual simulation completely evaporated, Sabretooth looks around the room as his cat-like eyes quickly adjust to the dim underground warehouse. It's got plenty of space for the types of simulations that Weapon X tends to run, and it's hard to think of a more cost-effective way to train a group of mutant hitmen.

Or at least it'd be cost-effective if Sabretooth would quit ruining the VR equipment, which he's actively doing this very minute. Ripping off the cables and wires from his bare chest and arms, he leaves them strewn around the cold concrete floor as he walks toward the exit, and toward his new teammate. As always, his animal instincts are never buried too far beneath the surface, as he sniffs the air when he gets within a few steps of Domino.

"Already had two breakfasts..." It's before 7 AM, but he's not lying. "... but I could eat a third, I guess. 'Course, YOU smell good enough to eat. Go easy on the soap next time though, you smell better without it."

Poor Sabretooth. If only he'd been born a few centuries earlier he'd have been a king. Now he's just an embarrassing relic from a more primitive time.

Sebastian Shaw has posed:
Shaw nods to her, and does argure the numbers, or he view on Creed he just stands quietly watching them standing infront of the mic with the button to speak. Though the intercom was not on he sighed.. "I guess you can not teach an old dog new tricks, though I will agree with you on his efficency on removing said target. When he strikes though we are going to need to seperate ourselves from him so it is not tracked back to us as the attention it will gather is not the kind that we want." he stops and taps his chin thinking. "Before they are sent on a mission we may need to talk Miss ice Queen her-self to wipe their minds of our involvement though we would have to start from scratch again." he ponders to himself.

Emma could owe him one if he let her in though he hated having to read her into any of his buisness unless he had to, as Tessa would know by him keeping his involvement with her to a minimum. He finally takes a seat in a nice chair behind him, and nods to Tessa.. "Go eat with them if you wish it is good they see some face to represent the orders or they may not relate to the orders. I have some paperwork to finish myself, and I may join you." he finally reaches forward again, and pushes the button on the intercom. "Alright... thirty minute break for lunch.. then back to the VR training.. Both of you." he adds before turning it off again. Since Domino had deposited the mask he had asked her to get he had gotten along better with her. He had no time for the weak, but if she could be usefull he was much easier to get along with.

He did sigh again though, "Also remind me I need to pick up paint for our newest pawn.. she is a pain with her daddy issues, but controlable I am sure you two will meet soon." he adds to Tessa before he waves a hand.. "Now go.. go join them as one of us has to, and I am busy.." he adds lifting his notepad again he starts typing into it as details on buisness, appointments, and even some blackmail updates come up that need his attention.

Domino has posed:
"I know how you big guys eat," she explains. She probably spent a fifth of the Wild Pack's budget on rations for Grizzly alone. "Besides, you can always burn off those extra calories with some P90X."

And then the intercom buzzes with orders. She stares at it for a moment before muttering, "... VR training. Are you f**king kidding me. I just got finished dropping a hundred troops and two mechs two days ago." She shakes her head dismissively. "Yeah, let's see how well these overlocked Nintendo headsets emulate my power set."

Back to Victor, hands on her hips, smirking slightly. "Sorry to disappoint but I'm not on the menu today, you're gonna have to make due with something a little more standard fare. I'm not sure about the coffee though, you already seem a little, y'know, edgy."

Tessa has posed:
"Blockers may be able to do the trick. Temporarily removing the memories. While this means that a skilled psychic could retrieve them, most would not be able to, and if fakes were put in place, most would not look further." Tessa advises on the memory erasure. When beckoned away to join the others, she nods, moving to get up and leave, "Of course. I trust you'll only pick the best candidates, sir."

Leaving the control room, Tessa heads towards the lunch area, moving to approach near Sabretooth and Domino. The woman has almost no emotional expression on her face as she walks up alongside them, tilting her head briefly. "Creed. I must ask you a question to complete a hypothesis I have. What were you going to do once Nigma was dead?"

Sabretooth has posed:
"Ah... it's just this whole thing that pisses me off. Whatever company they contracted these simulations from ALWAYS uses the Riddler as the target, and he ALWAYS has these shitty puns. You'll see soon enough."

Domino isn't wrong: Sabretooth does seem a little edgy, though there's probably more to it than just a hatred for the VR version of The Riddler (seriously though, that guy sucks). He's not the kind of guy to talk at length about his emotions, but he bristles pretty visibly when he hears the voice over the intercom, so maybe it's just a personality clash, or a hatred for following orders? Either way, there's definitely something bothering the big guy, though he'd probably have a tough time trying to articulate exactly what it was, even if he WERE the kind of guy who talked about his feelings.

"It just makes me feel like I need to kill somethin'! And then fuck somethin'! And then get drunk as hell, and take a massive shit." Okay, so maybe he does talk about his feelings. "But I guess I can settle for... what did you call it? 'Standard fare'? That sounds classy. You been hangin' out with that other goth broad or somethin'?"

Apparently he thinks that the only place Domino could have learned a 'classy' term like standard fare is from the only other goth he's seen lurking around this dump.

"Speakin' of Trinity..." He says this under his breath, but smiles toothily when Tessa actually gets within earshot. "Interestin' question. I figgered I'd see if he was ticklish, or maybe ask him for some stock tips."

Sebastian Shaw has posed:
As Tessa moves on he watches her only long enough to see her interact with Creed before he gets back to his work. He sits in silence alone in the room for a bit putting together plans after taking in the new information that is avaliable. He sighs and talks to himself, "Great... we got a lose cannon, a comedian, and now a telepath with daddy issues... Maybe I should just shave my head, and look for younger minions." though he shakes his head enough feeling sorry for himself. He stands, and pulls up the video feed on the oil tankers. Three large tankers fill the screen, and a button comes up with 'Engange' which he pushes with a smile.. It would be in the news later, he was sure about it though it had little to do with this squad.

He was waiting for the fallback for what he was about to do these people were his plan if the heros got their act together too quickly. He already had Joker, and Harley keeping the Bats busy, but there were more groups then that, and he needed some force incase they found out he was behind it. Turning just for a moment to look at the now empty training room he sighed.. He only hoped when that time came they were ready because though they were the right group they were also his last line of defense when the shit hit the fan.

Wiping the room down with a hankerchief there would be no trace of him in this room. Fingerprints would be gone, and he happened to leave this particular room off the video grid which is why he liked it so. He needed to talk to Emma now which he hated doing, but he had a plan for that too as he would not enter the same room as her, but to make sure no-one here even remembered his face he would need her, and time was running out. If anyone came back to the room he would be gone, heading out to continue his evil plans they knew what they were supposed to do, and he didn't like micromanaging them as it just pissed them off. He would drop a message to Tessa that she could read at her convience, about where to meet next after she was done... as she was interical to his plans.

Domino has posed:
Domino listens to Sabretooth express his deep, innermost feelings.

"We can probably do three of four," she comments on his desires. "Standard fare is eggs, sausage, bacon, potatoes - stuff that will keep you going."

Tessa's speaking, and Dom listens and assesses. This one must be the new handler and/or narc. She thumbs at Tessa, "And this is 'the other goth broad'? Vic. I am not a goth. I can prove it. Notice the lack of heavy black eyeliner and scars from 'this is a cry for help' suicide attempts."

Tessa has posed:
Well, that's quite the reaction Tessa gets. She expected it - she's a handler, therefore not in high regards with her subordinates. She keeps her attempts at telepathic probing to a minimum - surface thoughts, surface emotions, etc, letting it passively move over the two until she feels that they may be getting suspicious. And then, as Sabretooth responds with snark, she looks at him, and smiles for a mere moment before turning less expressionless.

"You're not taking this seriously." Tessa considers how to phrase what she's going to say, and decides to go the visceral, imaginative route. Something that Sabretooth can probably picture in his mind. "You get your target - in this case, Nigma, and you gut him like a pig. He screams, momentarily, before being drowned out by a gurgle of blood and his last breaths. You smell it - the last human body functions, the excrement, the blood, and then you look up, and everything in chaos, someone like Killer Croc has eaten another inmate, and security is already bursting into the cafeteria. Your cover is blown. Your escape is messy, and it traces back to us. How do you solve that?" This seems to be a normal breakfast conversation to Tessa, in that she is saying all of this with a perfectly straight face.

And then a glance towards Domino. "I don't have enough dripping mascara to be a goth." A tilt of her head to assess the probability manipulator. "Those are all good ways to get protein and energy, yes. Likely was going to be my plate as well. But I must ask you, Domino. How would have you handled that situation?"

Sabretooth has posed:
It's pretty clear that Sabretooth isn't planning to treat the new project coordinator/handler with any more respect than he has to. But his problems with authority are very well documented. At least he's not threatening to disembowel her yet, right? Maybe he's finally starting to grow up.

As she describes the scenario to him, Sabretooth slowly moves both of his hands to cover up his crotch. "You make it sound so sexy. You better stop before I chub up though, if I get any more HR complaints they're gonna turn me into a Deadpool."

Domino has posed:
Domino's surface thoughts are pretty simple:

    - She feels the VR training is absolutely a waste of her time and will be inadequate to train with anyway.
    - She's wondering how much self-restraint Sabretooth has, and if she should reinforce her door.
    - There's a very faint flicker of suppressed anger and guilt, but it's not directed at anyone in the room, and it's rapidly smothered by a very, very strong will.

Still in her PJs, Neena returns to a simpler stance. "That depends on what you want with Nigma. If you want him alive, I can get in and out with him either conscious or unconscious, cooperative or uncooperative, as the mission parameters demand. The place is a sieve. If you wanted him dead, then I'd just need to know if you wanted it done in a specific way, any evidence planted, frame ups, et cetera, et cetera." She hand gestures with a flourish, The King and I style.

With a big grin she reaches over and pats Victor's arm reassuringly. "Oh, don't sweat it, sweetheart, I'll kill you before that happens. The world does not need two Deadpools."

Tessa has posed:
Focusing on making Sabretooth more receptive to her is a lost cause, as Tessa quickly realizes. So, instead, she just replies with that same straight-laced tone. "I don't believe they have that much respect for you, Mr. Creed." Letting that stand for itself, she instead turns to Domino, nodding as she replies on how she'd handle the mission.

"Excellent reply. I've already glanced at your dossier and history, and that reply settles my theories on you. You don't seem to be in any need of the training course. Actual missions would be a far better use of your skills." Both a factual statement of Tessa's beliefs and something to try and appeal to Domino's thoughts. There's that suppressed anger and guilt...but Tessa's not going to touch it. If it unravels, it might either alert her or cause an emotional fluctation. Instead, the probe keeps at the same level on both of them.

"I believe you'll have a mission soon. I look forward to coordinating you. You were selected for your skills, and despite what setbacks we may have had so far, those haven't gone away."

Sabretooth has posed:
Sabretooth has been a lost cause since... decades before Tessa was born. But years and years of intense mental torture has made him someone whose thoughts are a bit hard to pick up if you're not willing to try too hard. And let's be honest, nobody really wants to read Sabretooth's mind. That way lies nothing but graphic imagery, disturbing content, and probably some explicit fantasies about every woman within sniffing distance, which at the moment is just Domino and Sage.

"Nobody ever does, little lady." There's only a tiny amount of sinister undercurrent hidden beneath that sentence, but it's enough to pick up on. "But as long as they buy me 3rd Breakfast, I ain't likely to complain over somethin' as pifflin' as respect."

Domino has posed:
"Don't schedule me for anything without checking first," Domino states to Tessa. "I'm fine with working on this team and doing what needs to be done, but I need running and breathing room if I'm going to keep cultivating contacts that could be useful to us. I've got a couple lined up right now that could pay off big if I get lucky. Which I will."

"Buying? It's waiting. I cooked it for you, and you didn't even have to sleep with me or anything to get it," she quips to Victor.

Tessa has posed:
Tessa doesn't try and pry into Sabretooth's thoughts. He's front-facing enough. Instead she nods briefly to Domino. "Of course. I look forward to a long and prosperous partnership." And then, she heads off on a different path through the hallway. Probably because she's mingled enough and wants to watch five movies at once or something while eating.

Sabretooth has posed:
"You cooked... here?" For a second, Sabretooth envisions the dining facilities that are available here in the Weapon X bunker. It's a pretty unsanitary sight, unless Domino found where they keep the bleach. However, a little of bit of extra grime only serves to make the food more flavorful, in Sabretooth's opinion.

Whatever was bothering him, it seems that he's sufficiently distracted now for it to not bother him. At least not visibly. In fact, the smile on his stubbly face looks almost genuine. He starts heading in the general direction of the food odors that he's picked up on, doing a decent job of not drooling. Drooling might make him look a bit less... leaderish.

"I usually eat my meat raw, but maybe it's time I learned a few table manners. What do you say you show me how to use one of them fork things I been hearin' so much about the past hundred years?"

Domino has posed:
Domino's a little particular about cleanliness. It's something of a gesture of good faith how much time and effort she put into getting that kitchen clean. Forget the bleach. She brought in a propane torch in a few places.

With a genuinely warm smile at Sabretooth she says, "Better late than never, Boss man."