5262/Astral Flux: Madison's Problem

Astral Flux: Madison's Problem
Date of Scene:	29 August 2018
Location:	New York City
Synopsis:	Psylocke starts to see how deep the rabbit hole of the telepaths goes.
Cast of Characters:	Shadow King, Psylocke
Tinyplot:	Astral Flux

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Shadow King has posed:
    The arragements were made. The young telepath, Madison Andrews, was hopeful to meet someone that might be able to help her. Clark Kent, of course, had to go off somewhere as always, but Lois was there to make sure the girl made it to their helper.

Madison can't be more than seventeen. She has a gold ribbon in her long, light brown braided hair, the bright new white sneakers, jeans, glittery pink top. She has a backpack at her side, a beat up dark blue one, where she's sat herself on a bench. She's not beautiful, but does well with what she does have: a natural relaxed quality. Lois is nearby, skeptical, though most of it is of Madison. They haven't had the best interactions with the telepaths related to the fungus, after all, no matter how nice Madison has appeared and acted.

Psylocke has posed:
    At the appointed time, Betsy Braddock came down the path toward the pair. Lois Lane was easily recognizable. It was helpful since she didn't know what Madison looked like, only her name. The Japanese woman gave them both a bright smile and a slight wave as she closed to be within speaking distance. She was dressed casually today in a pair of jeans with short brown boots. Her top was a deep indigo, tucked in. There was a thin brown belt holding the jeans in place around her waist.
    "Good afternoon," she said in her crisp British accent. "I'm Betsy Braddock." She offered her hand to Lois then to Madison.

Shadow King has posed:
"Madison," Madison says, but doesn't accept the handshake, she turns red, and folds her hands in across her stomach in a manner that many mutants with 'touch' issues are prone to doing. Something an Xavier teacher may be very versed in. "Sorry, I don't touch," Madison says hesitantly. Her eyes are very curious and interested in Betsy. If this person is also a telepath, well, Madison certainly is watching her very closely. There isn't a distrust, though, just more of an inability to not stare.

Lois introduces herself as well, willing to do handshake, and apologizes for the missing Kent. "They said you could maybe help me," Madison says, a bit abruptly.

Psylocke has posed:
    Betsy hadn't realized she had touch issues but the signs are there. Her smile never falters. "That's quite alright." She turns to shake Lois' hand. "I'm certain he is a busy man."
    As Madison speaks again, she motions to the seat and sits very carefully, making sure she doesn't touch the young woman. "I will try. I have some gifts and one of them is telepathy." Yet she apparently hasn't used it, or she's a good actress, since she didn't realize Madison had touch issues. "Can you tell me what's going on in your own words?"

Shadow King has posed:
Lois stays nearby, still skeptical and watchful: or perhaps just interested in the information and what exactly is going on with the telepath. If Madison is entirely a liar and things blow up, well. That's another style of interesting.

"Um, yeah, okay," Madison says, picking at the edge of the bench under her legs, and looking at her shoelaces. "So there's a bunch of us telepaths. A group. We're all connected together. Harry set it up somehow. Uh. We were gonna save the world from the fungus," Madison says, as if aware that sounds lame when said that way. "But it's different now. And slowly my friends are disappearing out of it without warning... And there's something dark in the network.... and.... this is kind of a long story."

Psylocke has posed:
    "I had heard the fungus had some sort of telepathic link. You and your friends are telepathic? Able to communicate with them?" Betsy asks just before she gives a quick reassurance.
    "We can take as much time as you like. You can share as much as you prefer. Or if you will allow me, I can join you telepathically and learn the information that way?"
    Never does she try to look in Madison's mind. That would be not only intrusive but also likely unwelcome without permission. A consciencious telepath didn't use their abilities without asking first, unless it was a situation where information may mean life and death. She wasn't so shy about going where she wasn't invited then.

Shadow King has posed:
    Madison releases a slow breath. "The reason I need help is I think... the dark thing in the conversation can... maybe hear and see everything we do. I can tell you the story, but... I... needed to warn you about that, I guess. That it might come. Or is listening now. I might be paranoid; Heather believes me, but. I... I got desperate. I'm afraid. So here I am." Madison is crumpling physically and emotionally. She's held up very well, for someone as close to a breakdown as she might actually be. A sturdy teen, really. "Ron used to help me. He's /gone/. I don't know if he's dead, or worse..."

Psylocke has posed:
    "Thank you," Betsy says, no falseness in her as she is truthful with that gratitude. "I appreciate the warning. I will assure you that I'm not afraid of whatever may be there." Not if there is something there. For now, the girl is getting the benefit of the doubt. If she believes something is there, in Betsy's life has has learned not to dismiss things out of hand. If there was smoke, there was often fire. Certainly at times it was the person's imagination. She wasn't going to just assume so though.
    "Ron was one of your friends on the network? How many have gone missing so far from your group?" she asks.

Shadow King has posed:
"There was eight of us at the start. I knew Ron first, he brought me in." There's a subtle evade about Ron, something more there, but she keeps talking. "Some of them were working on controlling the mushrooms. You know. We were going to be heroes. It was pretty cool. Roland and Paul were really getting somewhere. Paul was showing us how to do it. They could command them to do anything at all. I liked being a part of something. It was Harry that kept up the connection between us, so we could share. And it was going to be great."

"And then, The idea was just there - to make money. Instead of destroying the mushroom things. And some of the guys started to act really weird. Different. Ron's missing. Paul. Roland. Harry doesn't respond; he-- well, I can show you maybe, on Harry." A shudder. "So that's half of us now. Gone."

Lois adds quietly: "We know that Paul was very injured by something, and Roland is dead."

Psylocke has posed:
    Lois's voice draws Betsy's attention. She looks over at the reporter and gives a brief nod before focusing once more on Madison. "So Harry is the one that maintains the link and he is still there doing so." Important information. Whoever might be eliminating them had chosen to keep their doorway open to the others. Perhaps for information. Perhaps to be able to find them later. Or something else? Impossible to tell. As with many things, more questions and no answers.
    "I would like you to show me about Harry. So I can understand more fully." She carefully began to lower her mental shields, to allow Madison to reach out to her instead of the other way around. Yet Betsy was on guard, prepared to put those walls back up if things went sideways.

Shadow King has posed:
    Madison nods a little bit, and extends her hand, palm up. She has a few rings: teenager type; some gems, dragons. Madison has a sense of style all her own. Fingernails are painted. "Okay. Um. Pull away anytime," Madison says, in a gentle, respectful manner. "Err. You know that, you're telepathic... but yeah. I mean. Okay. I usually touch, to send." She offers her hand, clearly expecting to need to touch to convey whatever it is she is conveying.

A memory of Harry is the first to surface. The man is middle age, possibly on the young side of it, and is a competant and cheerful guy. The memory is some discussion about him networking Heather in as a new recruit to their group. Ron's agreeing. There's a strange thing in the background, though. A low key distant screaming that isn't Madison sharing anything at all. Hauntingly. It isn't in the memories. It's in Madison's mind. It is a low key, quiet screaming, that's coming from some other place.

Madison's on a telepathic network, and the screams are coming from that. "That's Harry," Madison says softly. "That's all he does now. All the time."

Psylocke has posed:
    As the hand is offered, Psylocke brings her own forward, palm down. Then she lowers her hand to rest atop Madison's, palm to palm. As she does, she begins to receive those surface thoughts then further, into the memories.
    She listens to the discussion about the network, the men bringing her into the circle. That noise though, behind everything and never ending. It's horrifying because it is unending. No pause for breath as there is no breath involved. Though it is low, there is no ignoring it.
    "That's him?" she asks softly although she doesn't need to ask. She knows. "Madison, I'm going to try something. I want to try to reach him. I'm going to follow your link to him, alright?" As she says that, a butterfly aura of power appears in front of Psylocke's face. She takes a moment to send out a message of her own telepathically to someone, letting them know where she is. Just in case. It seems a wise thing to do considering the state of the mind she is about to seek out.

Shadow King has posed:
    Madison just nods a little bit, but flushes heavily. She looks at the butterfly, but seems just startled, not alarmed. Her thoughts are purely curious. She's brave, for a kid. But that comes with the telepathy, to some degree: she has a good sense of people, and can judge when they're actually dangerous: and she trusts her ability to do so.

    Following the thread isn't too difficult for Betsy's caliber. Madison is connected to a network made by the poor person that is constantly making low noise: what Madison said appears to be accurate so far. The trail leads directly into the Astral, however: the man's mind is consciously walking there, pulsing a constant stream of screaming and some other words. Betsy will hear them when she starts to try to follow his trace. The words are:

DO NOT TOUCH DO NOT TOUCH NOT MINE NOT MINE GET AWAY I WON'T TOUCH

Psylocke has posed:
    As she follows the trail, the various tendrils to the other members of the network are visible. Yet Psylocke remains focused on that large thread, the one that all the others are tied to.
    She pauses in her mental tracks as she gets closer, not crossing the line into the Astral. She had gotten the warnings at the school that they needed to avoid it until they got to the bottom of whatever was going on there. She had avoided it as the Astral Plane was not one of her strongest areas. Certainly she could access it, but she didn't have the level of expertise like Jean or Charles.
    Instead, she called out mentally to that figure, hoping to get through and speak to him directly. <<Harry? Can you hear me?>>

Shadow King has posed:
    There are 6 total threads that Harry is maintaining, if it is indeed Harry. Two of them are barely in existance, which suggests problems at the ends of those threads. One to Madison. Plus then three others that are pretty stable. It is like Harry is a switchboard that connects the whole: to use the network, the others ping back through him, probably, in some manner. He clearly has a specific power or ability that is maintaining this with nearly no effort.

    Harry wakes up when Betsy directly talks to him, and starts to scream his message over the connections. Madison cries and covers her face with her other hand, trying to ignore it. It's like an alarm going off. Images come with it: images of forcing the fungus to kill other fungus, a flex of power over the fungoids, and then waves of mental pain.

    It may be clear this mind is so entirely shredded and demolished it just repeats the same broken thing over and over. It doesn't have the capacity for much else: there isn't even recognition at his own name.

Psylocke has posed:
    As the memories begin, Psylocke feels Madison react as well as seeing it. She reaches out and erects heavy barriers around where she is working, trying to stave off the worst of it to protect the girl. "I'm sorry, Madison. A few more minutes. Just hold on and I'll try to protect you as much as I can." The barriers should reflect most of it back to Psylocke. Most.
    There is no hope for Harry. He has been destroyed by something. The fungus fighting fungus. Something stronger than them. Then the pain. What did it mean?
    She withdrew slightly as she tried to decide on the best course of action. The two barely there threads draw her. A moment to erect another mental wall to try to keep Harry, or what was him, from directly reaching out to her or Madison but not severing the connection. She begins to follow the first faded thread, seeking out the condition of the mind on the other end.

Shadow King has posed:
    The faded threads both have the same situation. They aren't screaming in pain like Harry is, left in a really tortured state, but they aren't much better. Both of them are actually pretty placid, vegetable state. One of them is currently staring at a wall, semi functional, drooling. He knows he's Ron. The other one, Paul, is similarly fried out. It is as if they were used up and discarded, left to float. Both appear to be incarcerated but in very different locations and situations, though neither actually knows where they are or has the presence to figure it out based on their cell decor.

    Madison seems to accept the relief, though Betsy will feel her attempting to sort of peek through the shields and barriers. The girl wants to know, and the curiosity is potentially dangerous, in a way. She's looking at things she shouldn't be, emboldened by the quieting of the screamer.

Psylocke has posed:
    "Madison, don't," Psylocke says ever so gently. "There is something that has done this to them and I don't want you exposed to it further."
    Used up. Which may be the fate for the others. Psylocke does her best to get a mental location of the two incarcerated men, Paul and Ron. Then she shores up those shields. "Madison, I need to break up this network if I can. I know they are your friends and I have pinpointed them to the best of my abilities. I will try to track them after the links is gone but I feel it is imperative that you are separated."
    She takes a deep breath and releases it as she prepares to do something that will likely prove difficult. "I will have to lower the shields between Harry and ourselves so the screaming will be getting louder again." After she gives that warning, she does as she said, mentally getting closer to Harry once more as she considers the threads leading from him to the others.
    She may have to cross into the Astral Plane to do this safely. She will need to take the tendrils into herself them slowly let them go. Which means getting closer to Harry. She reaches out to one of the faded tendrils, touching it lightly and exploring how the link might work. To see if she will be able to severe it without further harm to the mind on the far end.

Shadow King has posed:
    Pinging and touching the network starts to change things. There's a sense of exactly what Madison warned about: someone else is there. Pulling on the threads has caused the spider that was only casually monitoring the web to start to look. And it burns, like an eye of Mordor.

    Madison doesn't realize yet. She's probably used to it, in a way. "Something's wrong," Madison warns her, though, even though it is evident Madison doesn't quite know why or what is wrong. "Please stop. I don't want it to look at us," Madison whispers, fear starting to rise: and spread. Madison broadcasts her emotions by accident.

    Yet there is some information for Betsy: she probably can get Madison off of the network, with enough force. But that spider will certainly know, and may see her do so. That may put the other strands at risk.

Psylocke has posed:
    The questing stops immediately as Psylocke withdraws from her exploration of the strands. While she wants to save Madison, she cannot risk the other three. There is no telling what that watching eye might do to the others even if she manages to free the one.
    "Alright, I'm going to leave the ties alone." She says it outloud more for Madison's benefit. So she understands what is going on in her own mind. She has Harry's mental signature now. She may be able to find him again if she goes Astral. They need to be able to sever all the threads at once and to do that, she will need help. She will have to do something that she might regret.
    She begins to weave her own web inside Madison's mind. "I'm just going to put some barriers in place, to try to protect you from the screaming. It will also let me know if something tries to get into your mind." The warnings will go off and alert Betsy should the time come. As she works she asks, "Do you know where the other three are?"

Shadow King has posed:
    "What do you mean, other three? There's five, and me, and Harry?" Madison asks, puzzled. She truly has no idea what happened to either Paul or Ron: after all, she still has hope they are okay, and Betsy shielded her from checking on their faded connections. "Do you mean the three I can still talk to? Sure. I mean. I can ask them anytime, on our network. But like.... you know how I said Paul started to act weird? Some of the others are too. I'm worried about them. And me, too. So you can't help me escape from it?" Madison is trying not to panic. She'd really hoped she'd be free of the whole of it, clearly.

Psylocke has posed:
    "I found Ron and Paul. I just have to find the other three. Then I want to sever the link on all of you at the same time. If there is something watching," Psylocke continues even though she knows there is now. "I don't want it to have a chance to hurt the others should I break you away."
    Psylocke reaches out again to those threads, moving to the point as close to the Astral as she can get without crossing over. She touches nothing, just examining how it all centers on Harry. She needs to coordinate with other telepaths. Those from the school. Then they needed to each take one of the minds still linked to Harry and sever them at the same time. It was the only route that might get them all out safely. With the state Ron and Paul were in, she didn't trust they would be if she managed to get Madison out but not the others. They may be drained more quickly.
    "Contact your friends. We need to arrange a meeting. I will have some of my friends who have powers assist me and we will get you all free at the same time." She makes sure to sound confident that it will happen, that they just need to coordinate.

Shadow King has posed:
    "Contact them... like right now?" Madison asks. She isn't surprised, she's just making sure. "But I felt it there. Maybe we should wait a little while, until it's not alerted...." Madison trails off. Her bravery seems to end abruptly when it comes to this thing spying on her mentally. She's more freaked out than she should be, possiby: there may be more going on with her. And being connected to her mentally proves that is true, she's hiding some larger reasons to be personally afraid. But she also doesn't want to think about them or linger there.

Psylocke has posed:
    Psylocke isn't going to press, even though she wants to know what that information is. She quickly withdraws, being sure to keep that link in place with Madison as well as shoring up the barriers between her and Harry. "Not immediately. Give it until tomorrow. Then arrange for all of them to meet you here in the evening. I will do what I can to have the others available to help then. We will do all we can to get you all freed from Harry's network." And whatever is lurking there in the dark.
    As she mentally withdraws, the butterfly aura fades away leaving her looking as she had upon her arrival. She gives Madison's hand a squeeze before removing hers and resting it back at her side.
    "Thank you for trusting me, Madison. We will do everything in our power to get you freed."

Shadow King has posed:
    "Well, I'll ask them," Madison nods. "...I won't tell them where we're meeting right away. I'll see what they say. Heather I trust. The other two, I don't know anymore. And I'm not sure Aaron can or will travel. He was hurt, I think, but he won't tell us about it." Madison swallows and slowly asks, her tone breaking, "....but. Ron? You found him? Please, is he okay?" That's the one she cares about. The others were incidental to her, compared: her priorities are herself, and Ron.

Psylocke has posed:
    "If they can't make it here, if you can get a location one of us can go to in order to synch with them." Psylocke knows it is likely going to be them at different locations just all working together in their own mental network to free the others.
    At the question, Psylocke considers how best to answer. Lying will lead to her losing trust. But she isn't sure that Madison can handle what she saw. "He is in a safe place but his mind has been damaged. I'm sorry. I am not sure how severe it is because I can't get close without potentially setting off alarms. Once we get you all clear, we'll be able to find out more and see what can be done to help him."

Shadow King has posed:
    "His mind is..." Madison doesn't deal well with that. She draws her knees up onto the bench, frightened and worried. Her emotions pour out into the local area - passerby will react and change course the get away from it. "He'll be okay. He's always okay. He's much better at this than I am. He taught me everything," Madison says, fighting the depth of her real worry. Doesn't take a mind reader to see her extreme distress over this. "At least he's alive."

Psylocke has posed:
    "I'm not going to lie to you, Madison." Betsy reaches out a hand to touch Madison's arm gently. "Damaged doesn't mean gone. We have to take this one step at a time. Once you are all freed from the network, then we will check in with each of you to help heal any injury, if at all possible. I've spent quite a lot of time removing dark taints from minds in the last couple of months and my friends are even more skilled than I." She hopes that will help the young woman at least a little.
    "Will you be alright? I need to get with my friends and start preparing."

Shadow King has posed:
    The touch sparks some thoughts to transfer over: Madison doesn't touch because SHE broadcasts. The emotions seem to be unrelated to touch, but her thoughts? She shares them with touching, as an open book, it seems. There's a blazing love and fear over Ron: her parent. The love is non-romantic; she's masking that he's her father, and a variety of worries over having treated him badly and not getting to fix her relationship with him. Guilt.

    Madison pulls away, unsure what she shared. "Yeah, 'course. I'll go to Heather and talk to her in person about... all this. You can um, call me or something if you want. Sure."

Psylocke has posed:
    Betsy pulls out her phone and quickly exchanges numbers with Madison. She has to focus, to not let those emotions overwhelm her. Learning what she did about Ron is making this more difficult. What she found was not promising. She isn't sure there will be anything to save. But if anyone can, she is confident in her teammates.
    She glances over at Lois who arranged all this. Giving the other woman a nod, she rises to her feet. "Ms. Lane, thank you again for arranging this meeting." She looks back to the young woman. "Madison, just hold out for another 24 hours. That's all I ask. Don't do things that might draw its attention." WIth that, she turns to leave. "Good afternoon to you both. I'll be in touch very soon."