8138/Sentinels: Last Gasp

Sentinels: Last Gasp
Date of Scene:	02 July 2019
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Frank Quaid is more civil with Sebastion, and gets better results in an interview.
Cast of Characters:	Frank Quaid, Bastion
Tinyplot:	Sentinels

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Frank Quaid has posed:
This time the interview room is given a table and chairs. A pizza is brought in. There are bottles of water. Frank sits waiting with his cane leaning against the table.

The cell area still hosts armed guards and they are nervous when the interview time comes.

A unarmed tactical officer opens Sebastion's cell under the overwatch of two armed ones.

"Mr. Sebastion?" he call. "Sir? Could you get up sir?"

The officer tries to politely get Sebastion to wake. If Sebastion does he gestures out of the cell. "Sir, Captain Quaid would like to see you."

If willing, Sebastion is led to the interview room and offered a chair.

"Help yourself if you need it," Frank says.

Bastion has posed:
Sebastion hasn't done anything other than do a very good imitation of a corpse. He's spent a lot of time laying on his side, facing the wall, on the cement bed/bench. He entirely ignored the person that came in at first, but then he slowly rolls over onto his back, a little vacant, and then gets up to follow where he's led. He's slow, which suggests he's feeling the weight of the leg shackles.

Or he's smart enough to pretend they're heavy: it may be hard to tell if he's suffering or not. His eyes scan over the pizza, the water, but it's the chair that's offered. He does move and sink into the chair, resting his one hand on the table edge with a clank of the metal shackle on that wrist. He doesn't say anything, he's listening, perhaps, but is clearly registering Frank.

Frank Quaid has posed:
"You don't look good," Frank says. He nods to the escorting officers. They step outside, lock the door and take up guard in case Sebastion tries to escape.

"Is it getting that bad, or are you still waking up?"

Bastion has posed:
"I don't know how I look," replies Sebastion. There's nothing wrong with his voice, really; it doesn't suggest damage, but that may not be a good way to judge his state. "I am not pleased with my situation, and sometimes it is difficult to think."

Frank Quaid has posed:
"Well, your situation's changing. The good news is, Trask is in for it now. Sentinels attacked a bunch of mutants outside one of his factories. He's been ordered to stop all operations statewide. There's blood in the water, Sebastion. People are primed to hear what Trask has been doing."

Bastion has posed:
There isn't any angry reaction from Sebastion about what happened; there's a sense of a reserved quality, as if the robot were keeping his energy or emotions in check, dampened. Or he doesn't have the range anymore.

"Then they have the proof of it, without me," Sebastion observes, thoughtful. "Did the mutants attack the factory?" The tone of the question suggests he would not be suprised at all.

Frank Quaid has posed:
"We don't know yet. Trask says they did, of course. But they don't want anyone going in to investigate. It's still not enough though. It's not the smoking gun your real, full story would give. And there's bad news."

"SHIELD is coming for you. The brass decided to give you over. I don't know when, but soon. I don't think you'll have any more chances to give your story, Sebastion. Things go to SHIELD. They don't come back."

Bastion has posed:
"So you're suggesting I should break out before SHIELD destroys me?" Sebastion asks, with some emotion returning. He's sort of actively amused by where Frank might be going with telling him that. "Or you're saying I need to talk to you, because this is my last chance to speak at all." He releases a quiet breath-like sound.

"I'm working on accessing -- remembering -- what you wanted to talk to me about. Can you go over that again?"

Frank Quaid has posed:
"The last one," Frank says with a bit of a smile. "Trying to break out won't help you. We need details. Exactly what you remember in Russia, here after he moved you. How you learned he backdoored the Sentinels. Your meeting with him. How to control the things."

Frank leans forward, grabs one of the water bottles and cracks it open. He takes a drink before continuing. The pizza smell is almost cloying in the confined space.

"You've been honest. You didn't escape. You're credible. Helping me nail the bastard will hurt him more than anything else you can do now."

Bastion has posed:
Out of the list, Sebastion picks the one he feels like correcting, possibly. Perhaps since it's wrong. "I didn't meet with Trask in person. That would have been a terrible idea for me to even attempt, not knowing if he had a weapon against me or not."

He looks at the pizza, and seems to grow a little annoyed. Being shown food without offering might not be making peaceful headway. But then Sebastion appears to ignore it. Willpower, or something else. "I control them because I feel them. I'm on their network. When they are close, I talk to them like I am talking to you. It is just another language. If I touch them, get inside their heads, I can assert what I want."

Frank Quaid has posed:
"It's innate. Like moving your arm," Franks says, checking his understanding. He sees Sebastion's look to the food and raises an eyebrow. "Really, help yourself. It's all here for you."

He leans back. "Well, everyone seems to think you know a lot more than you say, but you're pretty vague. So is it you don't know much, or just don't want to talk?"

Bastion has posed:
"It's innate, but moving my arm isn't entirely innate. I didn't realize I had weapons in my arms. For example. But once I got a better idea of what they were, I figured it out. Like if you knew how to shoot a gun, but didn't realize you had one on your holster, so you didn't reach for it."

The other question gets delayed by Sebastion working on the pizza situation one-handed. It's possibly hard to watch, but Sebastion is patient about it. He doesn't even try to one-handedly do the plastic cap on his water, he just breaks the cap off. "You had a lot of questions. What am I being vague about? Ask for the details that are relevant to you. I don't know what helps you."

Frank Quaid has posed:
"Start with what you remember when you woke up. Who did you talk to? What did you learn about who you were and how you were built?" he asks. He is patient and quiet when Sebastion works at eating and drinking. He does not move to help or seem to notice there is any difficulty.

Bastion has posed:
That seems to work better. The direct questions get direct answers. It's like talking to a computer. For good reason.

"I woke up. There was a woman with me. Wendy," Sebastion answers. "It was a hospital like facility, was what I had thought. She said I had been in an accident. I assumed I was human. They did a lot of scanning of my body and head. They attempted very hard to help me remember anything. I could sense others around, but I did not see that as unusual."

Sebastion eats the pizza in a robotic manner, just to ingest the calories. He also drinks all of the water, all at once, from the bottle. "I overheard many conversations related to interest in taking me into pieces. But what could I do?" He shrugs a little. "They decided to put me on a plane. There was a hood over my head, some others. The hood does not block all of my senses. I could tell, when we landed, that there was a fight. The Avengers, as it turned out, had come to take me away from them. They thought I was a scientist."

Frank Quaid has posed:
"I see. You said before you knew you were transferred between Trask facilities. How did you know they were Trask's? Do you remember the names of anyone else? What did they call you?"

Bastion has posed:
"We didn't know my name. They didn't call me anything, but referred to my situation as Project One," Sebastion answers, as if he hadn't found that curious before. "Wendy talked to me about her son. His name was Sebastion. I chose that later, to use. The Avengers called me John Doe."

Lots of questions, he moves to the next: out of order. "They talked to each other when they thought I could not hear. There were doctors names, but I did not meet anyone other than Wendy. Dr. Wendy Walker. Trask was spoken of frequently."

Frank Quaid has posed:
"Thank you for telling me this," Frank says. "Did you ever remember anything about who you are? Or how they got a hold of you?"

Bastion has posed:
There's a frown, and a pause in the eating. "No, though the Avengers claim my sense of time is off. That I am from the future. I have decided that is false and ridiculous," he says. "Something that is wrong with my head, nothing more: a strange fantasy or dream."

Frank Quaid has posed:
Frank nods. "Well, I'm not going to doubt you there. Occam's razor. So why did they move you to America?"

Bastion has posed:
"To a 'better' facility, but that is what I was told. That we'd move to a place where they were better equipped. From what I overheard, I understood that something had gone wrong with my care, and that place was to blame, the equipment or the team. I also heard that they wanted to remove my arms -- or disarm me, my memory isn't clear--, but they decided to wait until after the transfer. It didn't make sense until later, when I knew I wasn't human. At the time I didn't understand it." Sebastion shakes his head, and continues to eat, still pretty emotionlessly.

Frank Quaid has posed:
Frank nods slowly as he listens. "So tell me about Dr. Walker. What were your dealings with her? Did she mention any other projects or people like you?"

Bastion has posed:
"She was very kind to me. I had the impression she felt sorry for me. She was a psychologist, she said, at least," Sebastion explains. "She was the one dealing with me, but she reported to another doctor, whom I didn't meet, Dr. Octavius. I don't know why the others stayed away from me. There was a lot of arguing among them, about my status and problems with the scans and data."

Frank Quaid has posed:
"Hmm," Frank says thoughtfully. "What did they say about your status and what was wrong? Did Dr. Walker explain her concerns ever?"

Bastion has posed:
"Not to me. They didn't tell me much. Most of the other doctors were very... cold, even in what I could overhear, which also was not much," Sebastion says. "They weren't sure what was wrong. I was ...stressed out at the time. I did not read into it. My case was interesting to them, and their scans were a mess. Later, the Avengers told me that, too: that they couldn't sort out my scans. My body prevents it."

Sebastion focuses, as if trying hard to seek out something in the table, or in his memory. "They were all very focused on one of the doctors giving answers. I felt like he knew. He never came into range of me. Maybe he knew I could hear."

Frank Quaid has posed:
"Maybe," Frank agrees. "Does it help to make sense of what they were saying if you think about the parts you needed? Does that give you any context? I know it's not what you want to talk about... But what organs or parts did you need after you were hurt?"

Bastion has posed:
There's some confusion there, and Sebastion questions, "The parts I needed here were because I lost an arm and leg, and part of a section of my hip. I needed to travel, to walk, or I'd be found, and I needed a few organs to process food for it. I did not take a hand, it wasn't necessary to me surviving. I don't like what I had to do. How is this related?"

Frank Quaid has posed:
Frank sits up a bit. "What you needed after you were injured," Frank says with a gesture to one side. "Says a lot about what you were, are, before. You're not just a robot, or you wouldn't need body parts. If you're a cyborg, well that's usually built around a person, right? I mean, what part of you needs food? It's not a great power source if you can run on something else, or at least I've heard that from other cyborgs. What organ or organs are so important they needed to keep those parts? A brain?"

Bastion has posed:
Sebastion's mood shifts, and he looks away, and frowns, and then down. "You're asking if I have a human brain or not. My answer is I don't know. How do you tell if you have one?" he asks. "I can't sense it. Honestly... I don't want to open my head. I hope I have a human brain. What does it mean if I don't?"

He then seems to key onto another idea. "I have... cyborg ideas. Blueprints? I don't know. I have it in my head. I think about them a lot. I'm certain these could be used to help people. To go the other way - for humans to have mechanical parts. Funtional ones. I feel like, maybe I was a cyberneticist. Maybe I did experiments on myself, to save myself? Maybe. It's as good an idea as any."

Frank Quaid has posed:
Frank Quaid says, "Really? We should get those down, into something. They would probably help us understand you, too. Maybe unlock some memories," Frank says. "I have some more thumb drives if they help," Frank says. He pulls a few like the one Sebastion gave Jessica, from his suit jacket pocket. He places them on the table.

"I think whether there's a human brain in there will make a big difference, legally. I don't think it matters much for you. You're obviously a person," Frank says and tilts his head. "They thought so too. Psychologists are for people," he points out.

"What did Trask have to say when you talked with him? Did he shed any light on things?""

Bastion has posed:
"I feel uncomfortable about it. Like if I give you the information, I'll be disposable," Sebastion says, as if admitting that made him uneasy, as well. He does reach out and accept the thumb drive, and starts to pull it down off the table towards his lap, as if he were going to do something with it he doesn't want to be watched: He did the same thing when Frank saw him at the restaurant. A hiding behavior.

"Trask did not ... converse. I told him to stop hunting me, through another Sentinel." Sebastion pauses. "He said no. I made the Sentinel shoot his shoulder. To show I was serious."

Frank Quaid has posed:
"I would too, in your position. I really would. You want every bargaining chip you've got," Frank empathizes. He drinks from his bottle of water again.

"But thank you again for telling me this. It is clearing up a lot of myteries. I'm surprised Trask didn't say much. Guys like that don't usually like someone telling them what to do. Was he surprised to be talking woth you or that you could control his Sentinels?"

Bastion has posed:
"I don't have good ability to sense from trying to speak through a Sentinel. I know he believed me, and I guessed that he was angry, at the time. I can put a memory.. a video? from the Sentinel. The feed I get from them is... data? This is weird to explain. I will put it here. Perhaps you will believe best, that way." Against the table, there's a few funny little whirring noises, but not different than the last time Frank saw Sebastion do a mystery thing with his hand and a drive.

Frank Quaid has posed:
"Thank you. If you have any from Russia, that would help, too," Frank says. "Weird question. If you could say something to the entire world... What would it be?"

Bastion has posed:
"The /world/?" Sebastion looks surprised. "I don't know. Let me think about that," he asks. He also shakes his head, "I didn't get close enough to a Sentinel until I came here, and one tried to get to me. I didn't realize before then that I could talk to them at all, or pull down data from them."

Frank Quaid has posed:
Frank nods to his comment about thinking.

"I was wondering if you stored information the same way," he explains, a hint gently for once. "If you have any video memories."

Bastion has posed:
"I don't think so. I sense things another way. I'm not a Sentinel like them," Sebastion says, uncomfortable. "I am one. And I'm not." He shakes his head and removes the drive, tossing it back onto the table. It's warm, if Frank picks it up.

Frank Quaid has posed:
Frank does pick it up and pockets it, with a nod to Sebastion. He takes another drink of water.

"I believe it. You're unique. So these Sentinels. They were obviously programmed some way. You were saying their default was to attack mutants? What did you mean by that? If I was designing weapons for the military, I would design them to not do anything by default, until I gave them orders. So they don't run wild. But you said they're set up to run wild unless controlled? Is that an accident?"

Bastion has posed:
"No. I set mine to try to help me. If they followed what I set, they were looking for me. Once they failed to do that, then they would default back to standard patrol setting. They'd look for disturbances and protect those that needed protecting," Sebastion replies. "I don't call that running wild. Uncontrolled, yes. I can sense evil. I think they do something similar. Just not as well, and with substancial flaws. I didn't get a chance to adjust that."

Frank Quaid has posed:
"Sure, I didn't mean yours. I know you took extra precautions. But a standard Sentinel, like Trask has. Does it have to be kept on a leash all the time to keep it from attacking people?" Frank asks, then frowns. "Hang on. Sense evil? Are we talking vampires and demons, or..."

Bastion has posed:
"I believe those always are on a leash. But if they lose connection, they'd return to his facilities, if possible," Sebastion shrugs. "Mine had nowhere to dock. So that... that was my fault." He looks at the remaining pizza, and starts in on what's left of it, again.

"It's anyone. Just a sense of them. I know who to trust, who not. Trask is a good person, deep down; he isn't evil."

Frank Quaid has posed:
"That's good to know," Frank says, with a slight frown. "Do you meet many people who are evil? What are they like?"

Bastion has posed:
"I don't meet many people in general, in these cells," Sebastion answers, his tone a little tight, but controlled. "Evil people are manipulative. It is best to be on guard, because they mean to harm you." He shakes his head. "I have felt and seen a few. I am very guarded against their designs. I am unsure what I am sensing, so I am trying to study them, decide. They make me feel ill."

Frank Quaid has posed:
"Fair," Frank grants him. "These people sound dangerous," Frank says, still trying to gauge just what Sebastion is talking about. He is half-prepared for some real tinfoil hat stuff to come out. "Who have you met that's evil?"

Bastion has posed:
"I had a visitor or two that were brought to me when I was with the Avengers, and a few I sensed at the airport. I warned the Avengers about these evil people," Sebastion assures Frank evenly. "They are not innocent, and are not under my protection."

Frank Quaid has posed:
Frank looks at Sebastion for a long moment. "But humans are under your protection," he says slowly. "You're talking about mutants. They're the evil ones. That the Sentinels are supposed to keep us safe from. And you want to give the authorities control so they can do that. Not Trask, because... He won't protect us. Not properly," Fran ventures carefully.

Bastion has posed:
Sebastion lifts his hand, in a 'hold on' motion. "Mutants? I'm not sure that they are evil. There seem to be people with powers, like Jessica, who aren't black in the soul. I don't know that it's mutants I'm sensing. Someone being a mutant might not make them evil, or being evil may not make them a mutnat. It IS what the other sentinels sense, though. I'm not sure what I'm reading."

Frank Quaid has posed:
Frank decides to skip the lesson on x-genes, metahumans, aliens and the like. As far as he could tell, the Sentinels had been attacking bona fide mutants.

"That's confusing," Frank says. "A lot of this is though.

"You want more of that?" Frank asks about the food. "We got a few, didn't know how much you'd eat. And we got some fresh clothes if you want to use the cell block shower and get changed. I can't let you out, but we can treat you more human at least."

Bastion has posed:
"I would like to shower and change, please," agrees Sebastion. "And I'm fed." He does have a limit with his food intake. "I'd like my remaining time to be human. I'd like to talk more about human things. But I understand I'm more useful about the rest of it. I didn't want to be this, you know." He shrugs slowly, and starts to stand. He could have slipped the shackles, but did not. Respect, even if he hasn't been given any, in his view.

"You're a good person. I can see that."

Frank's not a mutant, after all.