7170/Sentinels: New Light

From United Heroes MUSH
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Sentinels: New Light
Date of Scene: 08 April 2019
Location: Unknown
Synopsis: Barry eats an ice cream sandwich, and Jessica explains the Sentinel situation.
Cast of Characters: Flash, Spider-Woman (Drew)
Tinyplot: Sentinels


Flash has posed:
With a couple dozen donuts delt with with a ruthless efficiency, Barry sits across the table waiting for Jess to finish her own like an impatient child who wants to go home and play with his toys, except he's not really. Mostly he talks about the weather in Central City and how he's not sure what the heck he's gonna do to keep Bart from bringing all of Gotham down upon the Gem-Cities like an avalanche of el insanico.

So once she's finally acknowledged that it's time to leave, Barry wisks the pair of them away so that the poor, tired shop owner can close up for the night. The pair of them going lightning bolt across the city to Jess' HOUSE in a heart beat. "Well, you were right, those were the best donuts I've had since the last time I had donuts."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica unlocks the door and slips inside. Lights are already on, illuminating the place as if someone is home. The habits of a woman who trusts no one. Thank goodness for energy-efficient lighting.

"Home sweet home," Jessica says, closing the door behind them and locking it. Twice. Because two deadbolts. And possibly lasers that engage when the deadbolts are engaged. Turning back to Barry, she grins. "Hungry?"

Flash has posed:
Barry should feel a lot more honored to be allowed inside, but he's so trusting that it doesn't even occur to him that she might not be. Even though he knows she kind of is. He slips inside and peels out of his jacket to lay across the back of a couch or chair or something, "You know I'm literally always hungry. Just assume in all situations that the answer to that question is resoundingly yes." Motioning around with both hands, "Nice place, by the way. Mine is more like a sardine can with furniture."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica knows she's neurotic in ways. She doesn't think twice about Barry not thinking twice. She walks behind him and picks up his jacket, hanging it on the third peg of a coat hook near the door. "Whatever is in the refrigerator is fair game," Jess replies with a grin. "There's ice cream in the freezer. Convenience foods. Sandwich stuff enough to make a Dagwood. Raid it to your heart's content." Then she looks around the place. Everything is immaculate. Everything is in its place. "Thank you, I enjoy it a lot more than my own sardine can at the Mansion. Of course that's just meant to be for short time stays, and it serves its purpose well."

Flash has posed:
"Except the fridge, which is trying to kill you." Barry points out, literally pointing up and then towards the kitchen, "Back shortly. Ice cream sandwich is go." The best part is it only takes him a single pose to make this horrible thing and is mostly done eating by the time it would take a normal person to blink save that there was definitely a flash of fridge light. "It's cleaner than mine too. To be fair, I'm not at my apartment much, but... you know, who has time to clean?" Fast man alive, everybody.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Did..." Jess blinks, uncertain of what she just saw. "Did you just...make a sandwich out of ice cream?" Sometimes it's hard to keep up. Fastest man alive, everybody.

Flash has posed:
"Want one?" Barry asks with a blink, sucking the juicy after ice cream part from his fingers. "It was better than I ever thought it would be and I thought it would be pretty dang good." There's almost nothing he wont eat, as it turns out. "It'll make you feel good in ways you didn't expect." That's called conversation necromancy.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
The unexpected comeback evokes a half-snort, half-laugh from Jess, and she slaps a hand over her mouth. "Oh THAT was attractive..."

She shakes her head, and nods toward the living room. "I just ate, I'm....I'm good. I think I'm gonna light the fire and move to the couch though. I have...a thing or two to discuss, that I can't really talk about in restaurants." She knows that even if he moves to the couch with her, he'll probably wear a path to the fridge. "At least the fridge here isn't trying to kill me."

Flash has posed:
Barry opens his hands in a mock smug sort of way and moves over to join her on the couch or a chair or really anywhere. Contrary to popular belief, he doesn't bob his legs with unreleased energy. Aside from eating like there's no end to his stomach, he could just be anyone. "Oh? This sounds like super secret super hero stuff.. that or you're about to tell me you can multiply yourself and two of them died... well one of them died for sure and one of them may have died."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"Pfft....you /wish/ there were three of me..." Jess quips back at him. "And yeah...some stuff I'm not sure you've been made aware of. Some stuff that I'm not even sure the Justice League knows, with all that's been going on over there lately."

Jess lights the fire and stays with it until the flames are warm enough to unabashedly warm her backside before she makes her way to the couch and sits down. "What do you know about the Sentinel situation?"

Flash has posed:
"We get along pretty well, yeah, but you know one of them would probably be evil. Probably have a goatee." Barry shakes his head sadly, "You hate to see it go that way, but one tough upbringing and suddenly they think the world is against them." For his part, he settles into the couch with one leg crossed the other and his arms laid across the cushions.

"Sentinels? Not a lot, only what you and I talked about. There's only been the one spotted in Central City, though and they didn't get involved during the Speed Force Storm, so... I figure it doesn't really effect me much. Never been a huge fan of super robots being mobilized against citizens though, no matter who or what they are."

His head tilts slightly, "Why? Something happening with them I don't know about?"

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jess sighs shakes her head, looking up at Barry. She give him half a sad smile. "No goatee. I'm the one that thinks the world's against her." But she looks back at the fire for a moment, composing herself before she continues.

"It takes a very small man not to be able to accept the differences in others. Trask is the small man behind the sentinels. They've been created, I believe, for genocide. To eliminate mutants altogether. And there are other timelines out there to support that theory." She turns to look at Barry again. "This is something we have to figure out how....to prevent. You talk about timelines a lot. Well, I never really had to dabble in them till now. But now's the time, I can't put it off any longer."

Flash has posed:
Barry was going to say something about how smart she'd look with a goatee when she's the one that broaches the idea of timelines and how they might use them in this situation. She's fixed in his stare for a second while he rubs at the corners of his mouth, "I need to make sure we're talking about the same thing here.. you want to go to parallel realities or you want to see other timelines because those are not the same thing... and one is problematic."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica rubs her face for a moment. She can't believe she is having this conversation. She can't believe she /has/ to have this conversation. She shakes her head slowly, trying to sort it out in her head. "Alternate realities that exist on other timelines," she attempts to explain. "Things that have happened, just not here."

She looks back up at Barry for a moment. "Trask has used the sentinels to destroy the entire population of mutants. We don't have to see it. We already know."

Flash has posed:
Barry furrows his brow at Jess, the playful lilt that usually accompanies his tone is all but gone, "How? I mean, mutliple hows, how did he do this... how did we let this happen on any timeline and... how do you know? How are you able to see it?" He's leaning forward with his arms on his knees, "I know that other people are able to see through timelines or move across the time barrier, but it usually comes with ripple effects through our own. You can't just tip toe around in time and not leave a footprint." He explains, again reaching up to rub the sides of his face where there's just the first hint of stubble on his jaw.

"I'm not saying you shouldn't do it, I'm not even saying that it didn't happen, I'm saying that no matter what you do in a timeline, time is set. The only way to change things it to actively do something you know will cause a cascading effect and that will definitely cause lasting problems. You stop the Sentinels, but then they cancel Firefly before the historically successful second season..." For instance. It's a playful example, but still.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"We have to hope - we have to /assume/ that what happened there may have been affected by what they did there. Maybe they didn't know what was coming. Maybe our knowing and being more preemptive...might be all it takes to change the course. We know because there is at least one person from the other....place?...who was thrown in amongst our current population. But they come from a time after it was over. It isn't just a problem for mutants, anymore. The AI has grown to the point that human interference is enough to stand in their way. So humans aren't safe, either. It's...basically post-apocalyptic, from what I can tell. I'm hoping there is a way to stop them without dabbling in the other realities...time lines...whatever. But dabbling has been done, I believe. We weren't the ones to do it."

Flash has posed:
Jess is not putting Barry's mind at ease, "So they're from the future? Is this is a possible future or OUR future?" He very rarely looks worried, "Because if they're from our future, there isn't anything we can do. Someone coming back and staying back in the past means that they have already done what is going to be done, so the timeline is established. You can only change the past by interfering... so I really hope that what they saw was just a possible future because otherwise..." He opens his hand, "Changing things here and now will make things different now, nevermind what it does to the future they came from."

He talks as if from experience.

"That said, there are things we can and should be doing now if these sentinels are the throat to mutants as everyone seems to think. I haven't seen that, but there isn't a substantial Mutant population in Central City, nor is it being televised." His hands rub together between his knees while his eyes tick back and forth slowly. "What the heck happened to this Trask fellow that he's so hell bent on destroying mutants that he'd create something even worse than any mutant I've ever seen or heard of?"

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica reaches for the TV remote, and the opposite wall of her living room becomes transparent. A screen taking up the majority of the wall comes to life, and a video begins. "This is from Russia..." The scene is a group of protesters around a sentinel, standing on a city street. Amongst the atrocities depicted, a winged mutant flies up over the head of the sentinel, who swiftly vaporizes the mutant, sending the protesters screaming in all directions.

"I don't know what happened to him. I know what /needs/ to happen to him," she says without a hint of mirth. "But this is starting to happen more and more. We don't believe that the timeline and reality is one in the same with our own. We believe it is an alternate reality altogether. But we...we have one that isn't the same as those sentinels. Those are terrifying enough."

Jessica sighs and turns the video off. "But we have another biomechanical one...programmed with AI such that he believes he is human. He knows now the reality of what he is, but he refuses to accept it. He refuses to believe this is his destiny. But from common assumptions he has made and voiced, it appears that he is a prototype for a far advanced sentinel, who may well be from some time in the future. It doesn't appear that current - day Trask created him, because from all indications, he found out about this guy and went to take him by force. He failed. We didnt. I...pulled this sentinel off a plane. We have him in a safe place."

Flash has posed:
Barry glances up at the television and watches the horror show play out right before his eyes, "How did I miss this?" He asks in a quiet voice, hands writhing together with growing nervous energy left unspent. His attention shifts from a now blank screen to Jess and back again several times like he's trying to put together what exactly is going on. How this has gone unnoticed and why there aren't more concerted efforts to bring these sentinels down.

"These are officially sanctioned actions of the government? I know several older sentinel models fell into the hands of some rogue elements, but..." He frowns deeply, "This is precisely why I dispise this kind of technology. Even if the original concept is well intentioned, someone is going to use it for darker means and goals.." As evidenced by groups like the Friends of Humanity or whatever finatical nonsense they go by now.

"How do I help? What do you need from me? You name it and I'm there.."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"I don't know yet," Jessica replies helplessly. "These sentinels are in the hands of governments around the world. I don't believe for a moment that they knew what they were buying into. They thought these were peacekeepers. Trask didn't tell the whole story when he pitched the idea, and many governments bought into them blindly."

Shifting in her seat, Jess turns to face Barry more than just watching him. "Tony has been working on this from every angle. Replicating sentinel parts we obtained. Testing the AI for weaknesses. He can hack them, but they're nasty. Thus far he can only knock them down till they find a way to override it. This guy we have...they are calling him John Doe, but he wants to choose his own name, when he decides on one. I believe in him. But I know he has been programmed the same as the others. They can all sense mutants instantly with a scan. HE can depower mutants. He has weapons that he can deploy like theirs, hidden in his arms. But he has disarmed them. He can make himself undetectable to our own scans. Tony's working on it. All of it. And we're formulating our plan. What I'd ask of you is just...come with me, when we meet again. We'll find out what can be done. And if you can help...if you want to help...that opportunity will present itself."

Flash has posed:
Barry freely admits that he's not as good with technology as he is with physics or physical sciences, but he follows what Jess is saying with the mind of a scientist, nodding thoughtfully and considering the implications of how what can currently be done might be used to do something else, "If you're going to field a weapon to fight machines designed to destroy mutants with their wide range of abilities and powers, it's safe to assume they come equipped with a multitude of abilities designed to combat against those powers." Said with his eyes down on the floor at their feet.

"Ofcourse, all you ever had to do was ask." He says with a glance up at Jess and a weak grin, "Not sure what I can bring to the table that Tony Stark can't, but if you think me being there will help somehow, I'm willing to do so. I don't want this possible future anymore than anyone does." His eyes do that weird back and forth thing that's way too fast to not be intentional like he's looking at a dozen different things at once.

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
"What...was that?" Jess asks. "That thing you just did...like you were looking at a million possible outcomes at once, sorta..." She narrows her eyes. "You're not some sort of wizard are you? And you're just not telling me? I already know one of you has a goatee...."

Flash has posed:
"Nothing, sorry, just..." Barry motions around around the room, "I think better when I'm moving, sometimes that's just moving my eyes." He explains with a self conscious smile, "No, goatee Barry got beheaded, remember? Mustache Barry is still out there, doing the lords work."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jessica would normally be laughing at Barry's unorthodox description of the multiBarry situation. But not in this instance. She blanches, her face going pale, and she rests her forehead on her hand, with her elbows on her knees. "Don't remind me," she pleads, still nauseated by the fact that Barrys have died. Let alone the new grisly details of /how/.

Flash has posed:
"He had a goatee, Jess." Barry says this quietly, comfortingly, hand on her shoulder. "He... he had to go." This is not something he feels, this is his way of trying to make her laugh through this horrible detail he had no business sharing with her. "Everytime you worry about him, just remember, he had a goatee.. and maybe a soulpatch.. he was a beatniq.. you can't trust a beatniq, soulpatched, goatee having Barry Allen."

Spider-Woman (Drew) has posed:
Jess laughs. Despite herself. She bursts out laughing harder than she has a right to. Maybe it's been a long time since she laughed. Maybe it's been a long time since she had a reason to laugh. She laughs so hard that tears fill her eyes. But when the laughter stops, the tears do not. And it is some time before she recognizes the difference.

"Thank you, Barry," she says simply, grabbing a tissue from a box on the table to wipe her eyes.

Flash has posed:
Barry pats Jess' shoulder when she starts crying because that kind of thing is a little awkward and maybe isn't exactly what he intended at the onset of his comedic routine. When she thanks him, he smiles and nods, "Anytime, Jess." If there's no tissues in reach, there will be in the blink of an eye. "So, you want an ice cream sandwich?"