7485/Sentinels: Unraveling

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Sentinels: Unraveling
Date of Scene: 14 May 2019
Location: Avengers offsite base
Synopsis: Steve and Tony talk Doe out of flying off to what may well be a trap.
Cast of Characters: Iron Man, Captain America
Tinyplot: Sentinels


Iron Man has posed:
The urgent message comes through, dominating Rogers' personal communication device. There's an update, and it is an important one. It's followed by a second message that is even higher priority: because it came from Tony. And everything Tony pushes forward is extremely important. Or at least, it should be, and nobody else has the ability to adjust the importance of his messages downward.

The first message is one from the facility where Doe was a 'guest'. Doe has informed the security there that he will be leaving shortly.

The message from Tony is related: What did Rogers SAY to the guy?

Captain America has posed:
Awakening with a snort, Steve looks blearily around his apartment. Something buzzed -- chimed -- phone. It's that particular sound that bears no good will. He rises with the slow agony of a lingering hangover, but still reaches out towards the cellphone with its screen still flashing white to red to white to red -- emergency.

A swipe and touch of his finger and he presses the 'speaker' button on it, waiting for the other end of the line to pick up. "Tony?" He speaks before he's even certain that the genius-inventor had picked up. "Tony, 's'Steve. What's going on?" The Captain's voice is graveled and rough; a functional alcoholic might recognize the faint, pained slur in place.

Iron Man has posed:
"Just a moment, please, Captain Rogers," JARVIS says in response, tone gentle, maybe thoughtful. "If I may ask, are you doing all right? If this is an emergency, I can send assistance," offers the AI, helpfully. "I-"

The speech breaks, into Tony. "Hey Steve," Tony greets, unaware of the other conversation, clearly. Or uncaring. His tone is easygoing, smooth. A tone that often covers some some irritation. "Our Skynet buddy is telling us he's going off on his own. Did you talk to him at all? I haven't any record of that."

Captain America has posed:
Unable to respond to JARVIS, Steve instead squints at the fall of sunlight through the cracked blinds of the sliding glass door and replies to Tony. "I talked to him, yes, Tony, and you were in my ear the last time. Told you I wanted to try the time travel, you said it wasn't practical. Handed off the Avengers information so he wouldn't try and slap us down if it came to blows."

The man sighs heavily, threads fingers back through his hair and wrinkles his nose at the taste of his own tongue. "Didn't think he'd get antsy and try to start moving out. He's trying to leave right now?" The unspoken tone is: mother of god, WHY NOW.

Iron Man has posed:
"I know about that time. I'm asking if there was a time /since then/, after we'd spoken," Tony clarifies, with a quality of amusement in his voice, now. He heard the slur and displeasure at the world in Rogers' voice. Or JARVIS tipped him off.

"'Trying' is a mild way to put it; I don't think our facility there can stop him. I don't want our security officers harmed over this, either. You have the rapport, but if you're 'unavailable,' I'll talk him down," Tony says confidently.

"You do sound like shit." Tony's voice is kind, though, charmed, in a way. Hungover Steve is going to be teased, though.

Captain America has posed:
"Thanks, I feel like shit," replies Steve in the same near monotone as earlier, but the barest inflection of bald banter peeks in now. "But no, haven't talked to him since then, Tony. Been busy dealing with other bunk. Look, gimme..."

He glances at the analogue clock hanging on the wall and lets out a hard sigh. "Stall him. Stall him as long as you can. I'll be there ASAP." A quiet groan can be heard as he gets to his feet, shedding the blanket and rather liking the soothing cool of the hardwood floor on his bare feet. "Just don't say anything you wouldn't say to... You know what I mean, Tony."

Iron Man has posed:
"I'm not a stall tactic," Tony replies dryly, with a breath, his eye roll quite probably coming through the phone. Tony has a particular way of rolling his eyes; Steve can probably picture it. "I'm on it. Take your time," Tony says, but there's not a lot of weight to it.

"He hasn't talked to me yet; I'm sure I'll be interesting to him." No ego there, not at all. Tony disconnects from the call, leaving Steve to his own devices to hurry up and get in gear.

Captain America has posed:
Steve peers down at the bright screen flashing its 'Disconnected' notification. "I trust you, Tony," he says quietly to the phone. It's set down on the coffee table again before the Captain shambles off to the bathroom to do his best to be presentable. What else can he do?

The sound of the motorcycle approaching the facility announces the man long before he pulls into the sidelot. Wearing his shield on his back alongside an interesting choice of suit-top and black tactical pants, Steve dismounts and immediately makes his way into the facility itself.

"Captain Rogers present," he announces to the building's AI, which should alert Tony, at least -- and that's if the rather strident announcement won't carry to Doe's ears by echoing through the halls.

Iron Man has posed:
The alert is successful, though the building does not have a full or proper AI system as the mansion or tower do. Still, the security was being stared at, rather directly, by Tony. It's the communicator that gets used, though, not something else. Because talking in Steve's ear is far more entertaining overall. Or important, perhaps, to not be on the same connection as the facility.

"In the conference room in the east wing facility; I'm on video call," Tony says. "In summary, he's noticed a bunch of Sentinels are being sent somewhere, so he wants to go stop them from doing whatever they're doing. If you want to pitch in on this with a different 'argument' than me just asking to know how he knows or where they're going, which I've already covered, I'll take it at this point."

Captain America has posed:
And there's Tony, loud and clear. Steve might be seen on-camera flinching to one side as if someone abruptly slapped a cupped hand over his ear and he nearly does the same, stretching his jaw out and blinking. Oof. Things are still a little hypersensitive, apparently! He steels himself as he listens, adjusting his course towards the conference room mentioned. He isn't going to hope that someone's made coffee, not this time.

"I can always come in with the same vein of approach if it seems like you've gotten answers. I mean, hell, I was going to see what he tells me for a simple 'why' as well," he says quietly as he deliberately slows his steps, intent on finishing out this conversation before entering another.

Iron Man has posed:
"If you need something for that hangover, there's supplies in the break room past the door down the hall," Tony says, with a slightly different tone of voice from the other one. He's multitasking, clearly, because he's on a video call with a very smart AI. He'd been showing some footage to Doe while he spoke to Steve, but that doesn't last ages. So there's some adjustment to be made, and some quick covering to be done. And then silence.

Not because Tony's not talking, but because he's chatting with Doe, most obviously.

Captain America has posed:
"I'll keep it in mind," replies Steve nearly sotto-voce as he approaches the conference room (and he will, even if he's unlikely to act on it -- must be that sense of bruised pride and all). The glass interior windows of the room reflect the exterior light oddly, so he can't tell right off the bat if Doe is standing or sitting, wherever he may be.

He opens the single door to the room and steps in, his eyes briefly taking account of it as well as its occupant. Occupants? Tony must count somehow, even if he's a face on a screen and a voice in the Captain's ear. "Mind if we talk?" His voice is enviably steady despite the thump of a headache.

Iron Man has posed:
Doe is seated, though there's an erect, military posture there. He has one arm on the table, the other against the arm of his chair. One of the video screens is dominated by an immaculate looking Tony Stark, whose gaze flits immediately to Steve as he enters. It isn't just that which causes Doe to turn, of course: there's the soud of the door, and so forth, and Steve's greeting also.

Doe, who looks entirely human (moreso in his odd attire: somebody gave him a black tracksuit and sneakers), gives Captain America a curt but friendly smile and nod of his head.

"...it's for?" Tony is saying.

"I'm gathering that now," Doe replies to Tony, and then extends a hand to invite Steve to sit as well at the conference table if he wants.

Captain America has posed:
The Captain doesn't pull out a chair. Rather, he sits a hip upon the sturdy table itself and folds his arms lightly. After all, the shield wouldn't allow him to settle into one of the seats, not easily if at all. He runs his fingers through his golden hair again, sans helmet as he is in unspoken show of good faith.

"What're we gathering then?" he asks as if he absolutely no idea whatsoever.

Iron Man has posed:
"A group of approximately twenty-five Sentinels were deployed not long ago," Doe begins, having no problem answering Steve, it appears. "I hope to intercept them before they reach destination, and assess them, but I will need to leave shortly if I expect to get to the coordinates before or as they do. Mr. Stark has asked for details before I leave. I'm gathering information on what the squadron's goals are, but at this time it is to go to location and await instructions. I don't know if that's unusual," answers the man at the table in black, attention more on Steve as he 'sits'.

"We have established where they are going," Tony says, in a slightly snippy way. He hasn't liked deliberately stalling with Doe, it seems. "From what I can tell, research facility. Government. It doesn't look interesting but I'm digging."

Captain America has posed:
Steve nods to himself, his attention flickering from Doe's details to Tony's tasking. His jaw can be seen to grit-grit back and forth the slightest before he speaks up again.

"I wanna know if they can be stopped from here." He looks at Doe in particular. "Send your own Sentinels out to intercept them?"

Iron Man has posed:
Tony points towards Steve -- even through the screen, in a sort of 'SEE', as if he'd said something earlier that now Steve was repeating. Tony sits back with a lift of both hands, as if he felt that was a good idea as well.

"I can send them other orders," Doe answers after glancing towards Tony and focusing more on Steve. Seems he likes Steve more, by the body language. "But that won't give me what they are doing. They are being sent in a similar pattern to here: what if there is a test subject such as myself there at a research facility?"

Captain America has posed:
"I understand your concern, but it seems logical to me to use your own Sentinels," Steve repeats with lift and fall of his shoulders. He caught Tony's own body language and feels a bit more at ease with himself; now it's less like disarming a bomb and more like a conversation.

"They can still talk to the other robots, right? Extend yourself." He lifts a hand from his forearm. "Ever thought it might be a trap to pull you out into the open? Twenty-five verses six and yourself?"

Iron Man has posed:
Tony's attention moves to his console in front of him now that he's not directly required to entertain their guest. His hands are below the camera's vision, but moving very rapidly, and there's some reflections of his screens visible in Tony's dark eyes.

"If I go myself, I can then have thirty-one sentinels, as well as pull all of their given orders and who is giving them," answers Doe. "A trap?" That does make him stop and think about it.

"I see you sent the six," Tony comments aloud.

Doe smiles a little bit, and doesn't deny it.

Captain America has posed:
As if he could see where the half-dozen Sentinels are taking off from, Steve looks over his shoulders. The treeline obscures the horizon and he can't see any immediate glints in the sky, not even airplane contrails. The expression aimed back at Doe is more solemn than before.

"Y'know, you're not convincing me that you don't have some master plan. This's how it used to play out with HYDRA. Somebody's on the straight and narrow until they pull a stunt like that, moving pieces without sharing with the team. Are we a team, Sebastion?"

Iron Man has posed:
Doe reacts to that, he frowns and looks at the table, and his own hand resting near the edge of it. "I have to do what I think is right. If the facility contains someone like me, I won't allow Trask to just take them," Doe says, sighing a little. "I do think I should go myself, but I am here talking this out. I am trying to work within what you've asked, to stay on the straight and narrow. If it is a trap, as you mentioned, and something does happen to me, then you will have the information."

"Time out," Tony says, one brow lifted. "You said you could control them. What's going to happen to you, exactly?" he asks.

Doe shakes his head, "Whatever else is there." He then finally responds more to Steve's comments. "I've launched the six sentinels, but it will take several minutes for them to get anywhere useful."

Captain America has posed:
Steve marks the man's reactions and glances over at Tony silently. He hopes the inventor can see the nuances of his face from his own viewpoint of the screen; it all speaks to concern and a growing distrust in the situation at hand. He shifts on the table to bring up more of his leg to rest on it, bent at the knee and balanced to let his booted foot hang. The folded arms fall with a hand resting on each thigh now.

"I want to hear it, Sebastion. What is going to happen to you? Look -- " he lifts a hand. "Don't risk it. Work with us as a team. You wanna go infiltrate a place yourself, you take somebody along with you. Things come to blows, you've got back-up."

Iron Man has posed:
"Some have arrived at the facility; updated orders coming in," Doe says, interrupting a little bit. Tony answesr Steve's glance with a return of his own: a closed look. He doesn't like where things are steering, but without directly forcing Doe to stay, what other options are there?

"I'm going," Doe reports as he stands up. "They're giving warning for everyone to evacuate, and when time ends, to destroy the asset there. Some kind of experiment. I don't think I can make it before the time ends, but perhaps I can stop some of the destruction," Doe says, starting towards the door. He gives Steve a look that probably reads as emotionally charged: and worried. "Do you want to come?"

Tony's on the communicator, private. "We stop him here, or we go too. What's your gut say?" Tony asks.

Captain America has posed:
Steve's face takes on the stillness before a storm. While he doesn't stand up, he does continue to watch Doe in particular with a patient wariness, as if he's very certain his decision isn't going to be received with thundrous applause.

"No - and I need you to stay here, soldier. I understand where you're coming from. I do. Waiting is the damndest thing, when you're in conflict, but let your Sentinels do the recon. It still stinks of a trap." He sighs hard. "Don't want to lose you, Sebastion. You've been our lifeline to the robots. We lose you because I let you hare off after an unconfirmed asset? Not gonna let that happen."

Iron Man has posed:
There's a long, sort of cold, pause while Sebastion Doe stops and stares back at Steve. He also sends his gaze across Tony on the monitor, then back to stare at Steve. The emotion is still there: but there's a visible sense of the man struggling with it, in a rather human way. Trying to be rational instead of explosive.

He doesn't, at least, just walk out. "I don't want to risk everything because I'm angry," Sebastion finally answers. He has balled his fists up, and he makes himself let them go. "But I also won't send my full group of Sentinels if I'm not there to defend them directly. I will send one. ...If the recon needs my presence, though, this may have to change."

Tony knows enough to not interfere: Steve's getting somewhere, it appears.

Captain America has posed:
The Captain waits out the tension that fills the conference room, light and airy as the place may seem with its windows allowing sun to fall in. He's received this look before, myriad times over the years, and deflects with a mask of solemnity -- something just shy of warning. He nods once at the man's initial thought.

"Then call the other five home and we'll see what information the lone robot sends back," Steve agrees evenly. "If the recon needs your presence, it may need others as well. We work as a unit. We communicate. You let us know what that robot sends back and we'll re-evaluate the situation."

Iron Man has posed:
"I'm going to control the Sentinel from here," Sebastion says. His eyes move across to Tony. "Remotely." That was a strange little callout, without being aggressive about it.

"Mind opening that channel up for us all to watch?" Tony asks, with some of his usual undertone of snark; he may as well have just asked if Sebastion brought candy to share with the WHOLE class. Sometimes Tony's just Tony.

"If I don't, should I expect you to attempt to break into it anyway?" asks the AI, turning some of the prior emotional irritation onto this new target of Tony.

Captain America has posed:
Those true-blue eyes slide from Doe to Tony and linger, watching the genuis-inventor deal with the sudden shift of far more prickly attention.

"I'd like to see what you're seeing," the Captain volunteers quietly. "Look, I'm...this kind of technology is beyond me." He shifts on the table, looks from Tony and back to Doe again. "I wanna see what you're seeing. I can aid in evaluating what the robot sends in." Not once does he claim that the possibility of intrusion evaporates simply because he offers an olive branch in teamwork.

Iron Man has posed:
"The Sentinels are extensions of me. I don't know how to describe it. I don't like others in my? limbs," Sebastion says, with some difficulty in how to relate what he's feeling, or sensing. "Even the ones that are under Trask's control. It's like finding you had a leg that someone else has control of. It's my leg, I just didn't know I had it, until I found I could move it again." Doe, frustrated, lifts both hands and then drops them.

"My Sentinel is closing on the site. I will show you his vision, but stop grabbing at them," Doe warns, specifically at Tony.

"Okay, I see the signal, setting that up," Tony says, his screen disappearing to show black at first. And also to cloak Tony's face. He speaks into the comm to Steve, "Yeah, so, he's talking like a hive mind thing. This isn't making me confident, Steve. --- You can reply to me on text if you want, I know you can't talk."

Captain America has posed:
"Like feeling coming back in a dead foot. I get it." Steve nods. He adds, "Thanks, Tony."

-- for the ability to continue a conversation in front of a being who's just risen up Steve's personal watchlist by another notch. The acidity of his stomach also drops a notch. Pulling out his phone as if he'd suddenly felt it vibrate - or perhaps a phantom buzz, the body convinced that signals came when nothing did - Steve glances at the screen. Frowning to himself, he then begins a rapid two-thumb stream of texting.

//Hive mind is good point. Where in mind? Where in hive? If node of hive, point of weakness. Big risk to let him leave, agreed. More robots under his control worst outcome. Losing one Doe-bot better than nothing if issue. Fingers crossed it is trap and not conflict.//

Iron Man has posed:
"If you didn't know you had a foot until you saw it, yes," Sebastion answers Steve. He lifts a brow a little when Tony is thanked instead of him, but lets it go. He moves back to the table to sit again, though there's some stiffness to his movement. He's suppressing whatever he feels, it appears, in some way, behind something that looks like military training.

"His dominance over all the Sentinels that have come near him suggest he's not a cog. I've seen him entirely rewrite those other sentinels: he's called me out it just now. He's cute, but I'm cuter."

The screen adjusts, showing Sentinels surrounding a facility, though there's no attack yet. They ignore the 'camera', as it approaches and takes view over the whole thing.

"We'll see what happens, when the count-down ends," Doe says, in a deadpan voice.