1962/Tale of Two Murderbots

Tale of Two Murderbots
Date of Scene:	13 August 2017
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Molly Millions, Cable

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Molly Millions has posed:
New York. Times Square. It might be close to three am in the morning, but the city never sleeps, and Times Square is one of the centers of such an ethos. People flit here and there on their own business, or pleasure, and to most of those the lean woman in black and grey is forgettable, unnoticeable, just another pale face in the crowd. But for some... to some. The lingering imprint of a woman out of time, of meat laced with metal and synthetics... the predatory prowl of someone on a mission is a neon as bright as the signs above. The dress is designed to blend in with the club goers, the partiers, inoffensive, just enough skin to fit in, but selected more for ease of movement and the level of boring that makes her unremarkable as she follows a particular man in a suit through the hubbub of the crowd with all the patience of a snake waiting for the right moment to strike.

Cable has posed:
Most would assume upon seeing the crack of blue electricity, that they were witnessing some sort of gas ball. That was always the common excuse, wasn't it? Didn't matter that Times Square was miles from the nearest swamp where these things occured. Though, it helped that the 'gas ball' in question was kicking up in a well-lit but uncommonly trafficed alley just outside of Times Square. The blue electricity surged, formed a circle in mid-air, and then out shot a man like very few others. His left arm was pure metal -- cybernetic, most would assume, and they'd mostly be correct. Only mostly. His eye on the same side also glowed, which tended to stand out. At the moment it was scanning; looking for the thing that drew Cable to this place and time.

<< Time anomaly detected. Distance: 323 ft. Bearing South-Southwest. >>

The HUD read-out highlighted a feminine figure in the crowd, though the wall of one of the buildings that formed the alley. With a frown, he set off, shoving his way past the crowd as he sets himself on a collision course with the 'Time Anomaly' his telepathy laying down a low-level shimmer on himself, making their eyes slide right past him, seeing him, but not registering anything.

Molly Millions has posed:
Molly doesn't have the advantage of telepathy, no, hers is rather definitely in the form of disguise, in knowing how to flow with the crowd. The red wig that covers her hair cut long to keep the ports on the back of her neck invisible, the click of her heels a whisper in a world that shouts. To her detriment she has no way of detecting the arrival or presence of another source of technology as she slides expertly between two groups of twenty somethings, turning just slightly with a smile so that her target might assume she belongs to one or the other if they happen to look. She's gaining ground by slow measures, keeping a screen of people between herself and the man as she works her way closer.

This is one she wants to question, and it's taken long enough to find him, she doesn't want to risk spooking him by revealing herself right now. She can't help but pause at the feeling, somewhere in the back of her skull that she might.. in turn, be being stalked, sliding in to the eddies of a restaurants street crowd to scan the people she can see with the barest kind of frown.

Cable has posed:
Cable's shimmer wasn't designed to keep him hidden from people actually looking for him. It played off most people's desire to see what they expected to see, and not to really pay much attention to the hordes surrounding them. It was a gentle nudge more than a perfect cloak, and it fails against Molly the second she puts effort into looking for a pursuer.

Unfortunately for her, his eye had her lit up like a christmas tree, highlighting her through the crowd that separated them. Her attempt at cover failed against him just as easily as his failed against her. Cable doesn't yet know he's been made, though, so he pushes through the press of bodies and slips into the same group she's taken cover in, trying to get close enough to her to interact -- the nature of such an interaction, however, entirely dependent on her initial response to him following her, of course.

Molly Millions has posed:
    What in the name of Winchester-Armitage... it takes Molly a second, she wasn't sure if it was paranoia, but that eye of his. There's no mistaking where he's looking, even if her gaze had settled mostly on the window. Questions can't help but flit through her head. Did they hire him a bodyguard? Someone more than human? Is it likely to just be coincidence? Priorities shift. She can't take the risk. Granted, she doesn't know for sure whether she's been spotted, but all her tech doesn't aid her in sliding away. Edging to an alleyway with the most nonchalant steps she can manage before she opens up with her heightened reflexes, seeking distance just to be on the safe side as she defaults to the assumption that another augment on the street likely means trouble for her.

Cable has posed:
With a muffled curse, Cable takes off after Molly the second she starts booking it down the alley. He drops the shimmer, shoving past a suddenly shocked group of tourists and starts hauling ass after her. He's fast, but his unwanted augments don't really confer much in the way of ground speed. So, rather than trying to keep up with Molly's own enhancements, he does two things: First, he taps into his telekinesis and yanks a dumpster out into the middle of the alley a couple of feet in front of her, hoping to trip her up. Second, he bodyslides the length of the alley, coming out just on the other side of the dumpster in a flash of blue electricity.

"Stop!" he orders, twisting around to face the direction he last say Molly, "We need to talk, and I'd rather not flatten you first."

Molly Millions has posed:
The dumpster doesn't catch her; by comparison to Nighttown, New York is wide avenues and sparsely populated, she's used to having to deal with the split second lizard brain decision making of a sudden obstacle, so the dumpster becomes an impromptu vault. She, however, is subject to the laws of physics and can't stop herself from landing on the other side within his reach, stance instantly dropping to ready warily. She's got her blades still sheathed as she tries to assess what she can see, opting for the demand of,"So talk." in about as even a tone as she can manage, as if she's not more than a little boggled as to how the hell he beat her there and the kind of ill that bodes if he decides to attack.

Cable has posed:
Cable grimaces as he takes a step back, giving her personal space, but not enough to bolt again without a tussle. He stays tensed and ready, but far from aggressive as his left eye flashes at her. "You're not from this timeline," he states flatly, "Not even close, and you're lit up like a dumpster fire to anyone who knows what to look for. That means one of a few different things. What I'm mostly concerned about is figuring out why you're here and how you got here."

Molly Millions has posed:
That... wasn't what Molly was expecting. Okay then. It only makes a micromillimeter of difference in her posture, even if her blades are likely not at all concealed in his vision, she's still content to keep them sheathed as she debates his words and what she might offer in response,"And who are you to be asking?" she elects to go with, watching his posture from behind her lenses. The arm. And the eye. That's the obvious stuff, height, reach, and breadth... without even starting on weapons. She's got no illusions that if it goes pear-shaped she's going to need every single advantage she can possibly get, and for some reason it's the sort of thing that can't help but make her smile, a too toothy feral little expression of delight.

Cable has posed:
"I'm the guy who found you first," Cable practically barks, clearly in no mood to play verbal tag with this mysterious woman from a timeline he's never encountered before (and he's encountered quite a few). "The nice one, who gives you a chance to answer before he starts breaking things. The not so nice ones? They do it a bit differently," he continues, his metallic fist tightening in annoyance. "Look, if you came here on purpose, you have a reason, and people don't tend to punch their way through the timestreams for meaningless reasons. If you came here by accident, then that usually means someone or something is mucking about with time, which is probably worse. So which is it?"

Molly Millions has posed:
Breaking things. Yeh, there's that minute movement again. It's a little ludicrous in heels and a dress, but there's no sign in her that she's not fully prepared to fight if he so much as twitches too wrong despite the differences, with the stillness of purpose of someone who is used to having to fight for their life and isn't likely to hesitate,"Oh well then... how could I have missed that. Nice people totally always chase me down alleyways and threaten to break things... what the fuck was I thinking?" she drawls, waiting for movement, if he can see the motion of her augments, blades extruding to the surface of her flesh without penetrating the false layer of skin. She regrets leaving her guns in the car, but well, beggers can't be choosers.

Cable has posed:
"Cut the woe is me crap," Cable returns, his grimace heavy as she continues to hold her ready position, continues to avoid answering his questions. "Tell me what you're doing here and how you got here, or the next time I'll ask it won't be as polite." He then flicks his metallic fingers, a mental probe lancing out to latch onto her augments and deliver a 'stand down' command on a loop, trying to shut out her control and put them on stand-by. "And you may as well not even bother with the posturing. I can see all that wiring in you. See what it does. Trust me, you won't like the results of a fight with me, lady."

Molly Millions has posed:
The sensation is odd for her, and disturbing on levels that Molly doesn't have words for. Access to her blades, the underlying muscular lacing, her extant combat augments suddenly wrested from her control and shoved into standby mode. Internally it spikes fear, externally there's the way that smile fades from her face as she hunkers down further with the flare of her nostrils. If she wasn't trapped between two walls, the dumpster, and him she might be less concerned about it. But it's obvious both that it's a fight she can't win, and one she's fully prepared to engage in anyways despite feeling muzzy, crippled, in ways that are distinct unpleasant to her.

"Fuck your woe is me." is what she has to spit first, the hind brain insistence that flight is definitely, absolutely, one hundred percent advisable translating itself into a cornered animals determination that they're not going to just roll over and die. She doesn't believe him, has no reason to trust that it's going to stop at questions. She's not dumb enough to think she can win if he decides to attack, but in a perversity of character the more he demands the answer the more determined she is not to give it.

Cable has posed:
Cable's grimace actually fades as he releases a snort and his lips twist upwards into a grim smirk that doesn't reach his one, non-glowing eye. "Don't say I didn't warn you," he offers briefly before that smirk drops off the face of the planet and he jumps straight into pummel mode. He keeps that mental command going, refusing to let her draw her blades without a fight. At the same time, he launches a frontal assault with his mechanical arm at half strength, his punch aimed for her body with a full five tons of force behind it. Most humans, it might go straight through them if it were to hit. Her augments however should keep her alive, if not in fantastic condition. Or at least that's what he's betting on.

Molly Millions has posed:
It's like fighting through molasses. Her blades can't help her anyways, so pulling her arm up to let it take the brunt of that blow is as much calculation as thought. She doesn't have his resilience, while the majority of her body has been laced with monofiliments to help her reflexes and support her augments, the bones and muscles themselves are mostly human still, which likely becomes clear at the way her arm shatters under the blow even as she endeavors to jerk to the side. It's not that she's incapable of pain, either, it's agonizing. The crunch of a bottle underfoot makes her grab for it with her still working arm to lash out at him with the intention of trying to wound and flee given she doesn't know at the moment whether or not the nanites are even operational. It's all on instinct now. Fight. Flight. Surrender doesn't even occur to her as an option, because in her world, in her experience, that's just a fast and painful way to die.

Cable has posed:
For a moment, Cable's shocked. He can feel her bone break beneath his fist, feel it give out and shatter. He wasn't expecting it in the least. It's not like his powers give him a full manual on her augments, after all. He could sense the monofiliments, could see where they were connected, understand their basic programmed functions, but he had also expected that they'd give her some sort of reinforcement. To so easily crush her arm, like that? Had he not held back, he might have accidentally killed her. Not exactly the worst thing in the world, of course. She could be a time hopping serial killer for all he knows. It's just not what he would have expected to happen.

As a result, he's still mentally reseting his take on her abilities and how much she can endure when she nails him in the temple with that bottle. He grimaces and falls back -- there's no real damage, of course. The techno-virus has converted most of HIS bones into some mixture of metal and calcium, even if the bulk of that was centered on his left side. Still, it compacted on his unbalanced mental position and forced him back out of sheer surprise that she'd keep fighting.

Then, of course, he recovers, and with a grunt he hits in the side with a telekinetic blow to try and pin her against the wall, a foot or so off the ground. "This is even more pointless than I thought."

Molly Millions has posed:
Who the hell did she piss off? Or is this War's revenge? That thought makes Molly grit her teeth as she finds herself picked up off the ground and pinned against the wall. It doesn't help the pain in her arm, or the flare of her systems cheerfully telling her that half of her is offline and oh yeh btw we've lost contact and suffered major damage to the right arm. The bottle's still clutched in her left hand as she endeavors to try and struggle against that invisible grip. The human parts of her want to grey out at the pain and it makes her grip that bottle all the more tightly to try and keep her focused. The flare of the telecommunications suite in her skull is no doubt clear, and just as easily cut off from her. Leaving the snarl she gives part frustration, fear, and definite pain. With her eyes sealed by those lenses there's no way but the way she bares her teeth to expose just how certain that death is imminent and just how little room she has to be genuinely afraid of that instead of rabidly furious.

Cable has posed:
Cable approaches slowly and calmly as he keeps her pinned to the wall. He's used his telepathy more than he'd like already. He's far off from the point of long term cell damage, but it's a bad start to the week. "Look," he grunts, taking up a position in front of her and about five feet away, now at roughly eye level thanks to him keeping her suspended, "You can see how pointless this is. I'm not here to kill you unless you've come to do harm to this or any timeline. I just want to know what sort of a situation I'm looking at here. The timestream's not exactly fragile. Not in the traditional sense, but someone fucks with it enough? Puts pressure on the wrong spots? The whole thing could unwind and take multiple universes with it. That's the scale we're talking here. Got it?"

Molly Millions has posed:
It's not something Molly really believes, except for the fact that right now aside from try to blink him to death behind her lenses she's not exactly in a position to stop him from murdering her right there, and he's not. So there's that to it. Still, the pain in her arm is white hot fire and that sluggish feeling in her systems with half of them locked down is bile in her throat. It takes an effort to force it out of herself, around that teeth bared certainty that he's just trying to wring information out of her before killing her,"I don't know how I got here. Or why." she grinds out through gritted teeth reluctantly.

Cable has posed:
For a long moment, Cable just stares at Molly, measuring her response and her gaze against his suspicions and experience. After that moment passes, he grunts and the telekinetic hold on her releases, dropping her to the ground without warning or ceremony. "I believe you. Unfortunately, that's also the worst case scenario," he mutters from behind a thick grimace. Finally, he retreats from her augments, giving her back full control while at the same time, wrapping himself in a low-level telekinetic barrier. Enough to stop a knife, at least, in case she ends up being faster than he can handle. "Here," he offers, pulling a small plastic square off his belt before he tosses it to her. It's a pure, light blue package without any sort of markings. Inside is a paper-thin fabric patch dusted in some sort of powder. "Stick that on the break. Localized pain killer. Won't dull your senses but'll temporarily block any pain signals sent by the nerves in your arm. Lasts about twenty-four hours. Figure those nanites'll fix you up by then." He can sense them in her, sense that they're different from the rest of her augments, but again, his senses don't give him a manual or a brand name. He can just tell what they're programmed to do, and in this case, they're clearly designed to heal.

Molly Millions has posed:
Molly doesn't endeavor to run, this time, nor does she attack, the bottle held in her hand even with the release on her augments because he's already taught her that she can't rely on her control of them in his presence. It's only at the toss that she has to pick whether to grab the square or keep the bottle, and elects to snap the square out of the air while those silver lenses watch him. There's a grunt from her, still suspicious as she smooths her fingers over the patch, easing up in a position where she can run if she feels the need. The precision with which she manipulates the packet suggests that, at least, is a technology she's familiar with, and under the circumstances is willing to apply.

"They will." she agree's. Freedom of movement, access to her augments, and the lack of threat, apparently in this case it's going to get him a better response,"The last thing I know, I was headed for Chiba. And then I wake up in Central Park. The technology doesn't... didn't? Exist, there, as far as I know." is offered up voluntarily as she lingers where she is, staring at that eye and that arm. She can't help it, of course she's going to be envious of superior tech.

Cable has posed:
Cable's response is less than optimistic as she relates her experience. His grimace hardens into a thin line across his face and his eye flashes briefly as he runs another scan on her. "Could be a temporary collision. It happens now and again. Pulls through random objects, usually, into one world or another. Rarely it grabs a person. I can tell you one thing, though..." His eye flashes again and then goes back to the normal dull glow as he regards her, "The timeline you come from? Its signature is so far removed from this one... I couldn't even begin to imagine where the paths diverged. Likely somewhere very early on. This isn't your past or your future. Not by a longshot."

Molly Millions has posed:
There's a dip of Molly's head for his words, she's nursing that arm, for all that at least with the patch on there it's only a conscious alertness rather than a consuming distraction. Given that it seems like he's not going to go after her again she takes the right wrist in her left hand and pulls on it, taking advantage of the pain killer in order to straighten it out and make it a little easier for the nanites,"That precise, huh? I sort of figured that. Nothing really there for me anyways." she pauses,"So where the hell do you come from... who manufactures your augments?" jealousy, thy name is Molly.

Cable has posed:
"That precise," Cable repeats in affirmation, bobbing his head once in a shallow nod. "I'm from... More or less this time in this timeline. Spent most of my life in a possible future, though. Time gets... murky, the more you learn about it." Her second question, though, draws his frown back into existence. With a shake of his head, he explains: "These aren't augments. They're the parts I was born with, more or less. There's a disease known as the Techno-Organic Virus, or T-O for short. It converts organic material into machines with the desire to replicate by spreading the infection further. I'm keeping it in check." He grunts, tapping his temple as he finishes his explanation, implying that his control over the virus has something to do with his mental abilities. "Of course, I've made a few modifications here and there, particularly to the eye."

Molly Millions has posed:
There's a quiet grunt from Molly,"I figured they were either divergent, or that sometime over the next two centuries humanity wipes out pretty much everything but itself... money was already on divergent. But the affirmation sort of... makes things easier?" she's listening, trying to follow as best she can, though she frowns,"Von Neumann machines. Nanites, but without the shelf-life?" she asks, smiling faintly,"Beats mine, but... I think we already established that. Pity. I could use a serious overhaul." there's the turn of her head as she enquires,"Are we good? I... figured you were planning on killing me, one way or another... and I'm not going to complain about still breathing."

Cable has posed:
"You were right, then. Time is divergent," Cable explains with the air of someone who's done it many times before, "If you come to a fork in the road and take a right, you might end up in one place. If you go back in time and take a left, you'll end up in another. The first timeline isn't erased, though. It breaks off and continues on its own path. Presumably both timelines already existed from the get go, you're just jumping between them when you go back to change something. If we knew where exactly your timeline diverged from this one, I could potentially take you back. The differences though..." he frowns heavily, "Make it next to impossible for me to track that down. That said, I'm not exactly a Time Lord. Compared to some of the things and people out there who deal with this sort of shit, I'm practically a novice. Maybe one of them could take you back. Eventually..."

He then waves his hand dismissively. "Yeah, you can go. My only concern was making sure you weren't a threat to this timeline nor a symptom of something that was. Seems most likely you were just caught in a freak phenomena and the victim of monumentally bad luck."

Molly Millions has posed:
    "Above my paygrade." Molly offers ruefully,"But I think I... understand, sort of? History is... not my strong suit. Too much gomi. It's boring." but she's one who has had to set her own bones before, judging from the way she works on trying to straighten out that limb, despite the grimace of the pain that leaks around the edges of the blocker,"Not that I'm aware of, at least. Not much point in my going back, either, everyone I know is dead. And for all that the average technological levels are archaic... there's some areas in which this place is more advanced... not even taking account... you."

Cable has posed:
Cable snorts as he crosses his arms over his chest, "Yeah, well most of my tech comes from the future. The rest... I'd be better off without." Suddenly he connects to her network, the same systems she used to try and 'call out' when they were still hashing out the details of their little confrontation. Rather than shut them down, though, this time he adds contact info for himself. "Get in touch if you notice anything strange. Anything you think might be related to you getting dropped here."

Molly Millions has posed:
The tilt of her head makes it obvious where she feels that connection inside her systems, the information scrolling through her lense without protest,"Not enough original parts left of me to make removal an option. I'd mostly retired in my time... but that's not really an option here either. I got the feeling that anything you could want to know you've already accessed directly, though, so.." she straightens herself out, offering a muted,"Thank you, for the derm. Cable? And I'll keep my eyes open... but seriously... I wouldn't know where to begin. We don't have any mutants, or... gods... or time travel. So you find tech like mine somewhere else... yeh, probably related, otherwise... like you said... just an accident."

Cable has posed:
Cable raises an eyebrow at Molly as she relates the differences in their timelines. "Definitely divergent," he mutters, then waves her off, "You'll know it when you see it because it'll be from your time. That's all I need to know. If more stuff from your world is being pulled into ours." He gives her a brief, solid nod, then turns, takes a step forward, and is engulfed in that blue electricity as he bodyslides away.