2045/I Do Not Aim With My Hand

I Do Not Aim With My Hand
Date of Scene:	18 August 2017
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Cypher, Cable

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Cypher has posed:
...Maybe it was a deal with the devil. Whatever the Man called Cable's dealings with Xavier are, they're murky, mysterious at best -- and maybe most of the students avoid him. Maybe that's how he wants it? Who can say.

Until, at least, one leaves Cable a message -- a simple 'I would like to speak with you, meet me at the old campground at 7 PM' -- well, then the ball is in his court.

Doug Ramsey could be the last person he'd expect to see. Precocious, noted for his skill with languages... one of the first casualties of war, all but forgotten among those who followed. But now he's sitting on an old tree stump, arms wrapped around one knee.

Cable has posed:
Cable, of course, knew what he was walking into well before he walked into it. Some low-level psychic scanning told him no one but Doug was anywhere within the nearest few hundred feet. His cybernetic eye told him more or less the same as far as heat signatures go. Then of course there was the good old fashioned recon of the area -- nothing extensive, just a single loop through the nearby woodland.

Come to think of it... This may be part of the reason most of the students avoid him. That and the exterior and personality to rival Logan's.

"Long way to go for some homework help, kid," Cable grunts as he comes trudging up the path towards Doug's chosen rendezvous point, "Not to mention you're barking up the wrong tree. If you need a tutor, ask your teachers."

Cypher has posed:
Doug says, simply enough, "I've already died once, Cable. It's going to take more than that to frighten me." He lets his leg drop, and then he says, "Tutoring's actually why I wanted to talk to you. They say that you're a master of weapons." He looks down, and says, "And I happen to have a mutant power whose utility in combat would be greatly supported by the right tools."

He studies Cable, calmly, and says, "You have advanced weaponry, and I want to learn how to use it." He is quiet, eyes blinking slowly. "You know what my powers are. I'm sure you can think of ways I can put them to use, to pay you back."

"But I won't be taken easily again, not by the Purifiers, not by the Smile-Faces, not by anyone."

Cable has posed:
"Uh-huh," comes the measured, non-dismissive, but not exactly enthusiastic response from Nathan as Doug explains why he summoned them both out here. Metal arm crosses with flesh-and-bone as he stops in the middle of the clearing to assess the younger man.

"So what, you want a combat instructor? Isn't that what the Danger Room is for?" He shrugs, hooking a thumb back over his shoulder towards the institute behind them. "Hell, there's probably even a gun or two kicking around in there you can make use of. Why me, kid? I'm not exactly winning any popularity contests around here."

Cypher has posed:
"Because they will teach me how to defend myself, and others." Doug says. "I'm thinking of the extreme option. The time may well come when I have to kill to defend Sam, or Rahne, or Illyana, or any of the others. This is..." he thinks, "A logical progression of the rhetorical language used by men like Graydon Creed."

"It is not something I want to do... but it is something I may have to do." He rests his elbows on his knees, and says, "And besides. They all have powers they can use as their primary weapons in combat. My powers have combat *uses* but not in the same way. They are fundamentally unequipped to teach me with that in mind."

"Based on what I've read, you are not. When it comes to combat where your powers play a supporting role, you're the best Xavier has."

Cable has posed:
Cable's expression sets into something a bit more grim and a lot more serious. He starts walking again, letting his steps carry him a bit closer to Doug so he can take a seat on another stump nearby. "Killing's not as easy as you might think, even to defend someone or something you care about. Your reasons might be right, and your commitment might be iron-clad, but you don't take a life and walk away the same. You sure you can handle that?"

To the rest, he grunts some muffled response as he shifts his position on the stump, both elbows settling on his thighs as he leans in. "Suppose that's true enough. Most of them rely on their strengths to start and end the fight. If you don't have a combat mutation, you sit on the sidelines or get stuck on rescue detail. However, if, and that's a big if... If I were to agree, I'm not here to hold your hand or be your friend. This'd be tough, aggravating, and dirty work, and no one is going to be nice about it. You understand that?"

Cypher has posed:
"I have already died, Cable." Doug says, meeting Cable's gaze, his own only broken by a slow blink. "I understand dying better than you." He looks down, and says, "I believe I can." Then he looks up again, and says "I'm not interested in your friendship. Or in having my hand held." He says, "I can see that you think that I am asking for something I don't understand. More to the point, I can see that your conscience is bothering you at the thought of turning one of Xavier's students into a killer."

He looks at Cable's cybernetic arm. "An advanced transmode infection. I can read the patterns in the organic nanocircuitry on the surface of the limb. How were you infected? How have you held it off?"

Cable has posed:
"Bully for you, but I'm not talking about dying, I'm talking about killing. Big difference, because you've got to live with one." Cable glowers a bit at Doug's response, but otherwise presses on: "I'm not turning one of Xavier's kids into a killer. I'm not coming to you and asking for you to take a shot. I'm not pulling the trigger for you. If you've got your reasons, then they're your reasons. I'm just making sure you understand the consequences."

He trails off when Doug's attention turns to his arm and Cable's glower goes flat, his expression smoothing out into a dull mask of indifference. "The how's not important. I caught it, I live with it. End of story." He sighs and reaches up to pinch the bridge of his nose between two fingers, massaging out some of the tension in his features. When he drops his hand, his face isn't quite as grim as before. "Look, you want training, I'll give you training. Rather you know what to do than get shot trying to work it out yourself. The only thing I want in return, is your word that you won't use any of it until I tell you you're ready."

Cypher has posed:
"No, I ask because I'm transmode-positive as well." Doug says, by way of explanation. "I was exposed because I spent extensive amounts of time merged with a Technarch, with whom I was personally acquainted. I didn't know it, before I died--but that infection ultimately paved the way for my return to life. I was curious, that's all. My infection is in remission, but you have the standard Technarch strain. If Warlock was here... he could probably reprogram it, and send it into remission." He frowns, at a thought.

"But that's not really relevant, is it." He looks up again, and says, "I understand what I'm asking for, and I'll abide by the terms that you set." His expression goes thoughtful. "But I ask that you not speak of it to others unless absolutely necessary. I think some of my friends -- like Cannonball -- wouldn't approve, and would try to stop me from learning what you have to teach."

Cable has posed:
Cable's expression softens again and he stretches out his cybernetic arm in front of him, peering at it with casual, familiar indifference. "I caught it when I was a child. With training, I was taught to use my telekinetic ability to keep it suppressed."

He then drops his arm and stands, bobbing an assenting nod to Doug's request. "Who am I going to tell? I don't exactly spend my downtime with the students," he assures him even as he draws out a pen and some paper from a pocket. Some quick scribbling later and he offers out a note with an address, time, and date written on it. "Be there and be ready to go. I've got a... facility of my own."

Cypher has posed:
"Deal." Doug says, taking the paper. "And fair trade, my power may be of use to you. I don't think a method of encryption exists that my powers can't beat, Cable. And I have the ability to get a near perfect read on people, with some observation -- even people who can resist telepathy. That's above and beyond translation." He curls his fingers around the scrap of paper, and he says, "I'll be there."

Then he looks back up. "Thank you. For the opportunity. It's not that I want to become a killer, Cable -- for your own peace of mind. It's that based upon what I'm reading from the world, it's that I'm not sure it's going to give me any choice."

Cable has posed:
"It rarely does," Cable agrees as he turns and starts heading back down the path with determined steps. "Just make sure you aren't late," he offers by way of acknowledgement for Doug's thanks, one hand raised briefly over his shoulder before he steps off around a corner.