4852/Germination: Further Down the Rabbit Hole

Germination: Further Down the Rabbit Hole
Date of Scene:	08 July 2018
Location:	Stark Tower, New York City
Synopsis:	Tony, Jessica and Clark discuss telepaths, space fungus and conspiracy.
Cast of Characters:	Superman, Spider-Woman (Drew), Iron Man
Tinyplot:	Germination

---

Superman has posed:
Clark paid the driver, stepped out of the taxi and hustled over the sidewalk to Stark Tower.

He checks his watch; five minutes late.

Clark sighs and makes his way inside. Before long he is shown to an elevator. He steps out when he reaches his floor and makes his way to the conference room.

"Jessica," he says, coming into the room, his shoulder bag clutched under one arm awkwardly. "I am so, so sorry," he says, turning crimson. He looks mortified. "I just... and I looked for you after, but you were gone and... then you sent me that text about being at SHIELD..."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica smiles, but looks concerned. She hurries over to Clark and hugs him gently from the side. "It's fine, it's /fine/, I was just so worried about you! You called him, didn't you? That's the only way he could have known..."

Of course Superman could have just been close by, but she prefers to think of Clark as a friend of his. It makes sense. "I figured that was where you'd gone. Are you all right? That looks like it REALLY hurts..."

Iron Man has posed:
    One of Tony's assistants stops by, to be sure they have refreshments or anything else they would like. "Mr. Stark should be along shortly. I'll keep you appraised. He is very busy today," she assures them. She'll tend to any needs, and leave them for now.

Superman has posed:
"Called him? No, I just, I panicked."

He turns a deeper shade of red when Jessica hugs him. "And I didn't even get any pics of him, of him dealing with the stalk. This is why I didn't go into war correspondence," he says, shaking his head at himself. "But you're okay? What happened? I... yes, thank you," he says to the assistant.

"You're okay?" he asks Jessica again.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Oh no, I'm fine, I promise. He was amazing, he took care if it all." She sighs. "And YOU! You were injured! You had every right to run. I'm just glad you're ok, and you were safe."

Superman has posed:
"Yeah, I'm fine," he assures her.

He moves over to the conference table and sets his shoulder bag down.

"Ah, so what happened?" he asks, straightening his glasses. "Did you get anything more out of Paul?"

Iron Man has posed:
    Abruptly, the door to the other side of the conference room opens, and Tony appears, trailing two assistants behind him. One of them has bottles of water, which she sets out for Tony and the other two, and the other man waits to be dismissed.

    "So you had a great vacation without me," Tony greets Jessica and Clark, looking more curiously at Clark since he hasn't met him, before pulling out a chair and relaxing into it. It's the head of the table, clearly his usual spot. Tony's dressed impeccably: expensive suit, tie with a flare of gold and silvers mixed into the black. He flips open a tablet, and the long wall comes to life with a variety of screens.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Oh fantastic!" Jessica gushes, genuinely and without a hint of sarcasm. "It was so exciting! There was intrigue, and action, adventuure..."

And that's when Jess realizes HE was being sarcastic. "I mean...Mai-Tais..."

Superman has posed:
Clark smiles, a little nervously, when Tony comes in. He sips his water while Jessica talks, then looks at her for a moment expectantly. Then he turns his attention back to Stark. "Ah, Mr. Stark, it's a pleasure. Clark Kent, Daily Planet. I was in Mexico with Jessica," he offers unnecessarily.

Iron Man has posed:
    "If we need Mai-tais in here, I can arrange that," Tony says, with a brief smirk, but then centers his look back on Clark. "Welcome to the tower, Mr. Kent," Tony says, distractedly fanning the assistant off with a dismissal. The assistants clear out. "So. To the point. I have a pile of information of my own -- naturally-- but I'd like to hear about your 'interview' and what your feelings were from meeting with the guy in person." Tony relaxes back, picking up the water bottle and uncapping it.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Well, as I was about to tell Clark, we got a /lot/ of good information from Dannon. He showed us where to target on these things to mind control them. I think the biggest challenge might be finding someone with the ability to actually DO it."

Jessica takes a breath, realizing she started in the middle of the story, and backs up with one fact shared in the form of a glorified tattle. "He tried to make me sit in his lap..."

Superman has posed:
Clark clears his throat a bit.

"And played games for a bit, but when we got down to business he said he could control the mushrooms and was looking for money for it. He gave us a demonstration; He really was able to make the creatures docile, and then to make them attack."

Iron Man has posed:
"Hmmm. Okay. So this guy actually demonstrated controlling them for you? Did he also use telepathy, or anything else? Like... the lap sitting? Did he MAKE you do it?" Tony asks, brows lifting.
    "SHIELD has some different reports... they aren't sure what this other man was controlling them with. Or if it was controlling him in some way. Were you certain it wasn't the fungal thing speaking through him, or is that a possibility?" Tony asks, fiddling with the cap of the water, turning it around with his fingers on the table.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica furrows her brow thoughtfully. "I think he was using compulsion on me. I don't know if he could read my mind. But he was telling me to do things, and there was a....force...behind it. He was pressing. He was doing the same thing with the people there, keeping them from noticing the fungus. And seemed like....he was compelling the creatures to ignore the people too. Don't you think, Clark? Did he do the same thing to you at any point?"

Superman has posed:
"Is /that/ why you almost told him your real name?" Clark asks, looking pensive. "I don't think he did, but I guess, I guess I'm not really sure. It really did seem like we were dealing with a guy who wanted to sell control of the shrooms though. And when I tripped and knocked him into those creatures, they grabbed him and he got that welt. The creatures didn't ignore him the way they ignore each other. Makes me think he was controlling the mushroom."

Iron Man has posed:
    "All right. If it is the mushrooms, this is... pretty advanced and deliberately confusing; but I could see them wanting to get us to stop killing them," Tony says, rubbing his forehead slowly, but his eyes are a little bit narrowed. Tony's pretty sharp, generally.
    "What I'd like to see is what one of our telepaths make of one of these people. And if what we've been told about controlling these is true or not. Really just... need a good, friendly telepath to check on some of this information. I don't have one in my immediate pocket, but I can get one." Easy confidence there.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"The would be perfect! Not only could we tell if they're being honest. But also find out if there are any tricks or pitfalls to it. Time is of the essence, after all." She breathes a deep sigh, then adds an afterthought. "It made a difference how far we were away from the stalk, too. I would suppose that has something to do with the power of his ability and not the nature of it. But it's something to look into."

Superman has posed:
Clark drinks from the water bottle and nods in agreement with Jessica. "That's interesting, good to know he can't control those things from halfway around the world."

He puts the bottle down and pulls out a notebook from the breast pocket of his off-the-rack navy blue blazer. He flips through it quickly, reviewing his notes.

"What we didn't find out is whether he was working on his own, with an organized group around him, or as part of a web of people with these abilities. Unless someone at SHIELD got that information from him?" Clark asks.

Iron Man has posed:
"Well, hold on. Do you know he can't control it at range because /he/ told you he can't?" Tony asks, still flipping the cap around in his fingers on the table. It makes a little plastic noise. "I want to be careful on what we believe," Tony finishes. "We saw some incredible range on the mushrooms controlling things in outer space."
    "Okay, I have... a pile of these guys. And gals. And some hints that they are connected, or at least talking to each other. And they're linked to that Central Park incident, no less."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Well," Jess begins thoughtfully, "he did tell us that...and the mushroom lost control once we were out of range. But...we honestly have no proof that it wasn't a ploy to keep us close. There was...a point...when he seemed to be stalling. I was afraid he was 'talking' to someone. It was why I asked that we move him. Could also be why he would want to stay close."

Superman has posed:
"Hmm, and it does beg the question of why this is all happening now. Is it just that these mushrooms have been around long enough for the world's telepaths to start figuring this out, or is someone putting them up to it?" Clark muses and scribbles his own question into his notebook.

"What's the connection with the Central Park incident, Mr. Stark?" he asks Tony.

Iron Man has posed:
    Tony makes a few light popping sounds with lips and tongue as he theatrically uses the screens opposite where Clark and Jess are seated. He rotates his chair a little to aim that way, but is using is tablet, with the array of orange holograms, to control the monitors.
    "I agree with the 'why now' question. I think it's an important one. Could this be because they've gotten to a certain size? Was it due to the space one being destroyed? Unconnected? My opinion is that they were waiting for the world to start to get afraid. And now they're cashing in."
    The view screens adjust, to the news article about Southeast Europe. "I think it's all about /this/ right now." The screens show the explosion of media related to the tensions around Latveria. "I think someone just made a lot of money, and it'll get worse."
    Tony adjusts the end monitor to Central Park stuff: a list of mutants and names. "People connected to the mutant found stabbed. And those people are connected to others... and the man you met. They were talking to each other. Maybe that was a test. Maybe it's more fragmented than that. Working on it. Lots of the communication makes no sense, unless maybe half of it is telepathic."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"I makes sense, Tony," Jessica agrees. "That is the ONE thing they all have in common. They are telepaths. One interesting question, however..." Jess pauses to compose her explanation.

"You've played the game 'Telephone' when you were a kid, right? Where someone whispers a message into the next person's ear, and they do likewise, and so on. Can telepathy work the same way? And if so, could someone be purposely hijacking the party line to manipulate the message?" She takes a breath. "Or could -we- hijack it?"

Superman has posed:
Clark blinks at the suggestion and shifts in his seat slightly

He very carefully puts his notebook away and busies himself with his water bottle.

Iron Man has posed:
    "I don't know enough about telepathy to even think about answering /that/ question," Tony laughs, easily admitting the area he doesn't know. "We don't even know if all of these people /are/ telepaths. Or illusionists. Or fungal-controllers. Or a mix. Sounds like we know you met a telepath. And I have found good information that a few of these others are. I don't want to assume, but. I WOULD bet they are." Tony seems unconcerned with the member of the press in the room. Which should shock nobody.

    "So, I have somebody for you to talk to next, if you want to chase down how they're networking. Shouldn't mind control you, though. Might be a let down. Also, less mai-tais."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"I'm game, most certainly. Anything I can do to help," Jessica says in earnest. "I think you're right, we need to know a lot more about the nature of these people before we even start contemplating measures like that." She frowns. "Well, and I GUESS I can function without Mai-Tais." She gives a half-grin. "I assume it involves less bikini work, too?"

Superman has posed:
Clark almost chokes on his his water at the mention of bikinis and wipes at his face with the back of his hand.

"I'm, I'm in," he adds with a cough. "Give us the who and where and we're on it. We need to know more." He wipes the excess water off on his slacks.

Iron Man has posed:
    "All right. Steve Clayton, 31, Mutant Town. Teleportation," Tony says, steering on his device quickly to a picture of a confused looking, slightly pudgy male. The photo isn't flattering. "He's the one who brought in Dana Harrington, the mutant that was responsible for the new friend we had in Central Park." The screens scroll with some pictures from that, showing Dana, and also the news articles related to her death. "He's awake now, as of... today. He was extremely burned when he brought her body into the hospital."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Do we know, or have any reason to believe, that Harrington was a telepath? We saw her throwing fire, but that just fed them. They planted and cultivated, but apparently really wouldn't even have needed to mind control them once they were in the park. Someone else could have been controlling it until it could be planted. I suppose that's what we're looking to find out?" Jessica watches the images scroll with a horrified expression.

Superman has posed:
Clark nods, watching the footage.

"I get the feeling this is going to be a rat's nest," he says. "Or a snake pit."

Iron Man has posed:
    "Nothing I have suggests she was a telepath. I think she has one in a pocket. I hope this guy will tell us who that is, and if he's one of this group. Or maybe how she got involved with that telepath. All of that stuff." Tony stretches and puts his attention more totally on his datapad. "I met with a bunch of my political buddies last night. I'm still working on that, but I have a good list of these guys that are offering to remove or relocate the fungus. I'm digging up everything we can on them. And I should get back to it, and some other things. Anything else?" Tony asks, starting to carefully get up. He's flinching: he still has the bruised rib problem.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"I think that wraps up my questions for now, Tony. Thank you for meeting with us. Just let me know when and where, and I'll be there." She looks at him with concern, but doesn't say anything. The last thing he would want is the press getting word of the extent of his injuries.

Iron Man has posed:
    "When and where? Yeah. You have it. It should be in your info docket in the Avengers login on the--- ...Did we not get you set up to access that? I'll get someone to fix it. Go visit the guy anytime," Tony suggests, leaving the water bottle where it was. "Let me know what you dig up."