7487/Sentinels: Crisis Meeting

Sentinels: Crisis Meeting
Date of Scene:	14 May 2019
Location:	War Room - X-men Base
Synopsis:	Several X-Men discuss the Sentinel crisis and plan their next steps.
Cast of Characters:	Professor X, Cannonball, Jubilee, Shadowcat, Polaris, Cypher
Tinyplot:	Sentinels

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Professor X has posed:
Charles sits in the War Room tapping messages into his phone. Several news channels are projected silently onto the walls, along with images of Sentinels and schematics developed by Forge and Beast. He checks again for a message from Jean, then taps the edge of his phone with one finger. Sensing others approaching he pockets his phone and returns to the papers in front of him. He welcomes each person as they arrive. Once everyone is present he clears his throat.

"Thank you for coming. I don't need to tell you how serious this Sentinel situation is. But I do need to tell you how proud I am of what you have accomplished so far. This crisis is not only immediate, but also strategic. What we do could set the tone of American and even global mutant policy for some time," Charles says. "To answer your questions, I have been away working on some very delicate matters that I wish I could share with you. But I will be here more from now on. I still expect Jean or Scott to sit in this chair, but they are busy right now. So I'm filling in," he says with a smile. "I think it would be helpful if you each gave a brief summary of what you know and has happened, and what you see as priorities for action right now."

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie is walking in, with a clip board in hand. Sam has not had as much involvement with the sentinel problem of late as some others, but he is trying to help and catch up. He will nod his greeting to the professor, and others here as he moves to find a seat and listen to whats going on tonight.

Jubilee has posed:
Jubilee entered the room with a more responsible air than she has carried in some time. Her irreverence, for the moment, is put away. She tucks the crisp skirt of her white sundress adorned with bright red cherries beneath her thighs as she seats herself, and she smiles at the Professor, adjusting the brass goggles atop her head. "It's good to have ya back. Been too long since you took a seat at this table. I think it does us all a lot of good to see ya there, Papa Bear."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde comes in, carrying a spill-proof coffee mug showing the Cubs logo and a world series champion banner. She has a dragon riding on her shoulder, clinging to her as Kitty moves to take a seat. She nods towards everyone else and takes a sip from the cup, looking a little tired and like she could use the caffeine boost contained within.

She looks over to Professor Xavier to say, "Thank you. Really good to have you back though." She looks back to smile over to Sam and Jubilee, then falls silent again for the time being.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna took her seat with a practiced grace that came from long hours spent in board rooms and government buildings in Genosha for long council meetings. She settled in with a mug of tea in her grip, offering a small smile as she settled in. In her hand she gripped her Genoshan made tablet, thin as glass and just as shiny to the eye. As no one else launched into discussions she jumped in. "Hello Professor.. I have.. well, I've been working with my father a great deal and Genosha. As you know, I was there for the past year or so." She set the tablet down and tapped her manicured nails against the table.

"I've really only engaged one of the units in direct combat in Gotham. Which I've been told are slower and considerably different than other versions." She reached for her tablet then and brought up images of that particular event, and slid the tablet forward.

"These only had plasma weapons and mutant detection systems. They were fairly easy to take down more or less." She pursed her lips and exhaled a breath.

"As far as my thoughts, well, Trask is a business. They might have government contracts, but they're still a business. If we can manage to manipulate the market some way, we might gain some advantages. I've been trying to work through business contracts.. My father wants to try something else. He spoke of using symbols and asking Captain America to speak up against them as well."

Professor X has posed:
Charles nods thoughtfully as everyone speaks. His eyes become slightly unfocused a couple of times as he seems to file away important information. "I will ask Kitty to give us some information on the intrusion in our computer systems that happened yesterday. As for what I am doing, I had the Global Relations Council sue to seek injunctions against Trask and the government to stop all Sentinel usage for now. I am having discussions with a few senators and congresspeople to get them to intervene. Also, I am having the Council approach the EU and UN to help pressure the government into restraint. Publically, mutants will need to take the moral highground to keep sympathy. If we lose it, the hawks will set on us."

"I agree that pressure through public celebrities is an excellent approach. Any of you who have contacts to bring to bear would be right to use them. As for the tactical issues, I think Kitty has some more information for us."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde lets out a breath. And takes a sip of coffee to wet her throat. "Right. So the intrusion was, if it is to be believed, an Aritifical Intelligence that became sentient about 4 weeks ago. All of the information I have on it, was provided by it. Calls itself Norton Agamemnon. At least with us. Please do not share that name, or store it or transmit it anywhere electronic. It first contacted me and supplied me with plans for the Sentinel's mutant power nullification generator. Which Forge and Hank have managed to find a counter for. Though so far they have only been able to build 2 of the devices that can be worn to counter it. They did, however, build devices that will defeat their detection sensors. So they don't know someone is a mutant, and so hopefully won't deploy the power nullifier.'

Kitty pauses to let that sink in. Then goes on. "Norton contacted me a second time. First was pure text, exchanged via a smart refrigerator. Second time was a movie theater. He'd bought all the seats but one. And appeared as a hologram. He seemed to think I was probably a mutant but indicated he wasn't sure until I confirmed it. He expressed interest in hearing about the mutant condition. He was the intrusion then, the third contact I know of with us, appearing on Professor Xavier's projector. I don't have any evidence he did anything else in our system, just got into there," she says.

Kitty pauses again, letting people digest mentally. "One other thing. Norton gave the plans to someone else as well, who has fought Sentinels before. I know that he passed plans to Gotham's Batman as well." She looks to the Professor. "There is also a new development regarding the cyborg, John Doe, that you need to hear about. I don't know if you want a summary of him first for everyone?"

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie hmms and says "If Doug, Ah, and a few others can get some of the cloaking items it would be helpfull. Ah have been looking into actually going to talk to Trask. If the sentinels are threatening him as well as us, he might be willing to tell us something to help stop it, so he can kill us himself later.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna inclined her head, taking back the tablet and flicking it off as she set it down in front of her and folded her hands. She didn't add that she wasn't sure that 'winning hearts and minds' would be enough. That she disagreed with simply taking the moral high road.. But neither was she willing to risk those plans. The green haired mutant had left before over ideals, and while she had returned.. her own belief system was still trapped between that of her father's more hard line views from time to time.

As Kitty spoke, Lorna frowned briefly, and she considered the added information that she hadn't had before. "We should likely be concerned about speaking that name then under less secure circumstances. Anywhere with a smart device that has recording capabilities could be a risk then." She pursed her lips together and hmmed under her breath thoughtfully.

"I'd like to hear more about this John Doe though."

Cannonball has posed:
Samuel Guthrie 's phone beeps and he looks at it, and frowns a bit "Sorry, Ah need to take this seems Zeb got in some trouble, and Ah need to call Ma, and help get it sorted out. He sends Doug a text asking him to come take his seat in the meeting while he handles this. "Ah asked Doug to come take my seat so he can feel me in." He tells the others

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty frowns and shakes her head to Samuel Guthrie. "Sam, he's the one behind the Sentinels. The reason they are anti-mutant. He wants to get his hands on the cyborg from the future, to upgrade the Sentinels to make them more effective against us. I imagine you'd be more likely to be attacked. If we're going to talk to him we probably need to think out how to do it safely. I don't know that it's going to do any good though. If it came down to it we could maybe as Tony Stark to speak with him again. They've met once before, but it didn't accomplish anything that I know of. And we definitely do not want them knowing we have the detection jammers, or being able to get their hands on one if they attack you. It's not my call, but I think it's way too big of a risk to go directly like that."

Kitty looks around the table. "So, quick summary. The cyborg from the future is mostly Sentinel. You know that if you've been following the mission reports. As things last stood, he was at an Avengers secure facility, but one that has been found out and attacked once already. Last time, that huge fleet of Sentinels, every one of them in the New York area, went there. The cyborg, John Doe, we call him, made contact. They recognized him as having command authority somehow, and he sent away all but six. He has been upgrading those six, at least in their programming."

Kitty pauses again and then says, "I just heard from Tony Stark that John Doe has told the Avengers he's going to leave their facility. He has not yet... but he is anti-mutant. He powered up weapons to shoot at Betsy and myself. He doesn't know what he is, didn't know what he is and wanted SEntinels to study. Now he's studied them and wants to leave. If he can upgrade more Sentinels, he is a major threat."

Cypher has posed:
As Sam departs, Doug knocks on the door, lightly, and says, "Sorry. Just here to take notes." He says, "I'll keep the opinions to a polite minimum." He fist-bumps Sam, and then settles into his seat, before he laces his fingers together. "Ah, hey, everyone." He takes out a pad and paper, and sits, attentive. Though anyone who notices him might notice that while he takes studious notes, he doodles in the margins a lot.

Polaris has posed:
The most obvious question to Lorna was very simple. Why hadn't the Avengers done something to stop this John Doe from upgrading Sentinels? Why had it been allowed to do what it had wanted to do? It hardly seemed as if the facility where the Avengers had kept it was in fact, not so secure. However she didn't voice her immediate thoughts, choosing instead to mull over what Kitty had had to say. The oddities surrounding how it managed to send Sentinels away via command codes made a chill crawl up Lorna's spine and the implications therein only managed to unsettle her further.

"Do we have any working theories for where this John Doe came from at all?" She offered softly.

Professor X has posed:
Charles nods. "I agree with Kitty. Directly approaching Trask is not something to do lightly. But as Samuel says, he needs to be spoken to. I will speak with Mr. Stark about having a conversation with him."

Charles looks across the table towards Lorna and nods at her comment. "Would you be willing to be in charge of investigating John Doe and Trask's production facilities? We need to be ready to strike at the source of his production if it comes down to it. Any information about Trask's plans with the Sentinels would be very useful. If his intentions are what I think they are, we will need to expose him publically. Though, the first priority should be contacting Stark and doing what we can to keep John Doe with the Avengers, or convince him he does not need to attack mutants. Bringing him to our side would be an enormous advantage - And you may have just the touch with words to do it."

"Kitty, you have the strongest connection and most information about this AI, Norton. He may be in danger, he may a threat, he may be a friend. We need to know. Following up on that and getting any more information he has, and where he got that information, is critical."

Charles looks around the room.

"If you are willing to take your assignments, we have a lot to do. Help each other, bring the others in to assist you. And be careful," Charles says with a confident smile. "Questions?"

Cypher has posed:
Doug glances between the others, and then he says, "It only makes sense that there would be a -- call it a Prime Sentinel, something that's autononomous enough with a developed enough AI to not merely adapt to enemy action, but to make pre-emptive plans -- and then you'd field it, sort of as a general piece on the field. Where it came from...?" He frowns. "There IS an expert on robotics we could ask -- possibly the world's greatest expert on them. But... uh." Doug shakes his head, "File that one under bad ideas."

Polaris has posed:
Lorna looked hesitant as the Professor spoke to her about picking up the investigation into John Doe and trying to investigate Trask's facilities. It seemed so beyond anything she was usually expected to do that the green haired woman floundered for a moment mentally. Her green eyed gaze swung toward Doug as he spoke about a 'Prime Sentinel'. "See I have a theory. We've had mutants come back from other futures.. what's to say that this John Doe isn't from a future as well? I know it sounds like a plot from Terminator, but what he was damaged in some way going back and lost his core memory or something? So he's trying to follow mission goals that are still there.. hating mutants and I dunno, aiding Trask for example." She exhaled roughly.

"I'll try to get a meeting with the Avengers and see if they'll allow me a chance to meet with this John Doe and go from there in regards to Trask.."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde shakes her head to Lorna... but it isn't out of refuting her theory as it turns out. It's correcting that it's just a theory. "He's definitely from the future. He referred to being given crayon to write with as, what is this, 2030? And he's been isotope dated. Some parts of him are from the present, but other parts of him have been dated as being from the future," Kitty says.

"The thing is, I imagine he might be able to blast his way out, anytime he's wanted. I suspect he really doesn't know what he is, that he stuck around. I just don't see the benefit in waiting, otherwise," Kitty says. She looks to Charles and says, "Tony Stark wants to shut him down permanently. There was some opposition hoping they could convince him to help. If he's upgrading Sentinels, and is no longer content being supervised? I'm wary the time for talking is about up. That's my take though. I was actually planning to talk to him to remind the Avengers just how anti-mutant he is. Though, it was going to put me in harm's way."

Professor X has posed:
Charles steeples his fingers. "Kitty, if Lorna thinks you will be helpful, then please go with her. But I would like her to lead this particular mission," Charles says. "Your connections with Stark and knowledge would be invaluable to her, so I'm sure she will be glad for your help."

Charles looks at Lorna again. "You might consider approaching Ms. Frost, Logan or one of the others as well," he suggests.

Charles tilts his head slightly as he looks across to Doug. "What did you have in mind, Mr. Ramsey?"

Cypher has posed:
Doug looks up, and then quirks his mouth. "Well, I mean, likely you wouldn't get any response at all. Or the favor we'd owe would cost us in the long run. But, eh..." Doug rubs the back of his neck, "Doctor Victor von Doom is considered the world's premiere expert in advanced robotics and android technology. He's also a lunatic, depending on who you ask."

Polaris has posed:
Lorna shifted her gaze toward Kitty as the other woman spoke and her hands curled around the edges of the table in consideration. "I wasn't aware we'd confirmed him being from the future. I must have missed that in the field reports amongst everything else. Great. An advanced robotic being with enhanced technology, that hates mutants came back to our time. There's no way he's being actually restrained or kept with the Avengers then. He's biding his time for something.. that is, if he's lying about his memory loss. Who knows?" She pursed her lips together, looking deeply unsettled. She found herself agreeing with Tony Stark too.

John Doe was a threat and now that he'd moved actively against Mutants by upgrading Sentinels? It was an act that spoke volumes to her.

Then as the Professor spoke, she exhaled a rough breath. "Of course I think Kitty would be helpful. I wouldn't know where to start without her. And not that I'm not honored... but Professor, why me? I'm not entirely sure that I'm the best person to lead a team on this. I've been half out the door with everything in Genosha and just trying to sort out allies for us to work with.." She trailed off as Doug added his own thoughts, bringing up Doom as a possibility in terms of robots and tech. She frowned.

"...I hadn't considered even trying to contact him for something like this."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde seems fine with Lorna taking lead, is just sharing the information she has. She nods towards the Professor. Though the mention of Victor von Doom makes Kitty wince. "I wouldn't trust him to get a look at that technology," she says. "I actually thought at one point about just sending him back to the future. But we have no way of knowing what future he'd end up in. Probably not his own. We could beat the Sentinels here and then send him forward so our children have to suddenly deal with them here."

Kitty looks over to Lorna and says, "I'm there whatever you need from me. But we need to move quick. I don't know how long Doe is going to stick around wait. I imagine Captain America is going to talk to him at the least."

Professor X has posed:
Charles nods. "Agreed, too much risk to turn to von Doom. But you are right that more robotics expertise may be needed. Doug, could you and Sam check in with Forge and Mr. McCoy. They might welcome someone approaching the Wakandans or Dr. Banner for help."

"I won't hold you up, with everything that needs to be done," Charles says and backs away from his spot at the table.

"Good luck."

Cypher has posed:
"Yes, sir." Doug says. "Just laying the nuclear option out there. I find that sometimes doing that helps people think of less objectionable alternatives." He gets up from the table. "Thank you for letting me sit in on the end of this." He rises from the table.

Polaris has posed:
Lorna made a rough exhale as her questions about why her was more or less glossed over entirely. She grimaced, as the Professor rolled back from his spot at the table and more or less dismissed them entirely. Her expression was pinched, and Lorna stood with a creak of the chair beneath her as she gathered up her tablet. "Alright, Kitty, if you wouldn't mind getting clearance with Captain America, or whoever, I'll clear my schedule. Then we can hurry up and try to see what, if anything, can be figured out with another meeting with John Doe." She pursed her lips together.

"I doubt he'll stick around long either."

Cypher has posed:
Doug pats Lorna on the shoulder, gently, and then says to her, "I think you'll do great!" Then he goes out the door. "I'm going to go talk to Hank. I'll grab Sam later, he's going to have to talk to all his brothers and sisters on the phone, so he'll be busy for a few hours."

Shadowcat has posed:
Kitty Pryde glances around the room. "I suggest we have Rogue, Cyclops, every heavy hitter capable of dealing with Sentinels, be waiting nearby," Kitty says. "When we go talk to him. Because if it goes poorly and he decides to flee? He's got 6 upgraded Sentinels at his control, and the possibility of calling more to aid him. We're going to want everyone able to scramble and be there immediately. Your father included if possible, Lorna," Kitty suggests.