9315/The Men with the Mechanical Arms

The Men with the Mechanical Arms
Date of Scene:	25 September 2019
Location:	Gravesend, Brooklyn
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Winter Soldier, Cypher

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Winter Soldier has posed:
Internationally feared cyborg assassin, minion of the Trickster Prince....and at the moment, impatient dog owner. For Buck's out and about with his service dog, a big German Shepherd in a blue mesh vest, who is is busily investigating a dead crab on the beach at Coney Island, as the waves slowly ebb with the receding tide. But he doesn't yank her away from it. No, he's letting her take her time.

He's currently clad in jeans and t-shirt, Cyclones ball cap....and the metal arm is covered with a plain blue compression sleeve, ending in a black glove. SHIELD techs haven't yet perfected the more advanced cover, after all.

Cypher has posed:
...The problem with living the X-Life is that in between being feared and hated and changing the world... you gotta get in your daily exercise. A metabolically perfected diet and routine checkups by some of the greatest geneticists in the world is only part of the equation.

That's why Doug Ramsey is taking advantage of the indian summer to go for a jog, the cool wind off the ocean ruffling blond hair as he runs along the beach, dressed in shorts and low-top running shoes. He's not bothering to hide his synthetic arm, shiny and glossy back shot through by golden circuit filigree. "Beg pardon." He says to Bucky, as he jogs up, "On your right."

Winter Soldier has posed:
Both human and dog jerk their heads up with identical expressions of surprise. They do say that pets and their people get more alike as they go. It's Lili the dog who reacts first, ears lifting, tail wagging....and she breaks training enough to go running after Doug, leash trailing behind her. For Buck was startled into a stillness profound enogh that she could simply jerk the leash right out of his human hand. She's settled into step with Doug, looking up at him expectantly. Like she thinks he's just another Bucky. "Lili, come!" he calls, already running after. He's fast - not having any trouble catching up.

Cypher has posed:
Doug stops, and turns, and then sinks down to his knees. He lowers his shoulders and sticks his butt out, arms ahead of him, and then he butts heads with her, before he strokes fingers through her fur and embraces the dog, petting her. "Hello!" He says, "Aren't you beautiful!" He runs his fingers through her coat, and then... makes doggy-noises at her. "She thinks my accent is *terrible*." Doug says, "But also that I'm the best not-dog speaker of dog she's ever met. And I probably am."

Winter Soldier has posed:
Look, look, look what I found. Lili's face is all ashine with pleased expectation, as she looks back at Bucky. She can't restrain herself, and runs around Doug. "I.....wow. Uh," Not a lot can render James speechless, but Lili and Doug have managed. "That's Lili. And man, she shouldn't'a taken off like that." But there's no real force behind it. Mostly, he's gawking at Doug. "I....you speak dog? Like that movie? 'I have just met you and I love you'" He does a pretty decent imitation of Dug from //UP//. Then, with his gloved hand, he points at that synthetic arm. "I know bein' nosy is like....a cardinal sin in New York. But....where'd you get that?" There's something almost pleading in his face.

Cypher has posed:
Doug pets Lili, and he says, "Well, they DO talk a little like that." He says, before he gets up. "But really, their language is as much non-vocal as it is vocal. A dog communicates using its whole body. But she really does love you a lot. She was showing me to you." He looks at his arm, and tilts his head. "Honest injun? An infection from an alien virus that is usually a gray goo scenario... except in my case the Gray goo wants me to take my vitamins and eat my three squares every day. We're still arguing about how much sleep I get." He flexes those black and gold fingers.

Winter Soldier has posed:
Buck mouthes a soundless 'Wow'. And then, holding himself carefully still, he reaches over to pull the glove off the metal hand. Lifts it to wave at Doug, as Lili prances between them. "She's great. She's my service dog, I mean, you get that."

Cypher has posed:
"Oh, yes." Doug says, "I get it." He adds, "She's very well-trained, but right now she's off the clock, so." He smirks, as Lili barks. Then he says, "Oh, *neat*, you have a cybernetic?" He studies it, and says, "...Looks Soviet. Very well-made, but brute military gear."

Winter Soldier has posed:
Winter Soldier pushes up the sleeve a bit, exposing the bigger plates of the forearm. "Yeah, that's it, exactly." He sounds almost enthused about it. "And yeah, she's off the clock," he agrees, looking down at her. "I....." Belatedly, he remembers his manners, holds out his human hand. "I'm forgetting my manners. James Barnes."

Cypher has posed:
"I mean, I'm not an engineer, but the way things are put together communicates things about them, it's all a language that illuminates the function." He extends his left hand as well. "Doug Ramsey." He says. Then he pauses. "James Barnes..." He thinks about that. "I'm just trying to remember..." He smirks. "My great-grandfather died when I was really young, but he told me he once stormed a German position with Captain America and Bucky. Heavy stuff to a four year old."

Winter Soldier has posed:
There's a flood of color to his face, at that, as Lili sits down on his boot toes in triumph, grinning up. "A pleasure, Doug," he says, with a little grin of his own. "Yeah, that's me. Bucky Barnes. Most people don't remember me right off the bat like that." His handshake is firm - the human hand is callused, as befits someone who spends whole days on the range.

Cypher has posed:
"Of course," Doug says, as an afterthought, "Everybody, even the people who were there, described you as Captain America's teenage sidekick. I always figured you were Special Forces but that they thought that'd tarnish Cap's image." Doug has an iron grip, if he doesn't have a shootist's calluses. He's definately trained up his grip strength somewhere. "He probably would've been my size, great hair, Mormon." Then he runs his hand through his hair, and says, "I'm not supposed to be out here, because of the Sentinels, but I can generally see when they're coming. All the birds fly off, for starters."

Winter Soldier has posed:
'"Yeah, that was mostly propaganda. I wasn't a teenager. I'm older'n Steve, 'n Steve was in his twenties," Buck explains, pulling a face. "That was like....the comics and movies that came later. I was....I mean, they didn't call it Special Forces back then, but I was a Commando." That grin again, though it fades at the mention of the Sentinels. "Yeah," he says. "They don't exactly sneak up on ya. I've dealt with a few so far...."

Cypher has posed:
Doug snorts. "Just some giant robots built to herd me and everyone I love to a grisly genocide. No big." He says. "Right?" Which would mean he's a... Then he puts his hand on his hip, before he uses techno-organic fingers to lazily scratch behind Lili's ears. "I'm trying to play it cool, but I'm totally geeking out on the inside." He says. "Is it showing?"

Winter Soldier has posed:
Buck draws down the sleeve, replaces the glove. Old caution dies hard. "I met a guy Steve and I pulled out of the camps. He's survived until now.....and he's fighting the Sentinels." Much more somber, now. The blue eyes are almost haunted. Humans never learn, and the old ugly cycles play themselves out again and again and again. The Shepherd lets her ears flop out to the side, blissfully. "Yeah?" he asks, and his voice is amused.

Cypher has posed:
"Well I mean, Cap was a super-soldier, but you were just... a badass. You were kind of my inspiration, when-- stuff happened to me. My mutant ability's not physical. But if you could keep up with Cap, I could keep up with all my friends. And I did! ...Most of the time." His hands drop to his sides. "Lili says she'd like a hot dog."

Winter Soldier has posed:
There's that flush again. "I.....that's not strictly true," he says, and his voice is very gentle. "When I was a POW, I was experimented on, and some of those were intended to see if there could be an answer to Steve's capabilities. They succeeded well enough that I could eventually keep up with Captain Rogers...." That comment has him looking down at her, and she smiles up hopefully. "Sure," he says, laughing, glad to be diverted from that subject. "You want one, too? I can afford three hot dogs, even at the current inflated prices...."

Cypher has posed:
Doug tilts his head, and says, "I understand. Nobody who leads lives like ours stays totally human for long." He holds up his arm, for emphasis. "Some days I wonder how human I'm going to stay. And if I cease to be human... what will I think when I'm not anymore? Will I care?" He shakes his head, and says, "It's a rabbit hole with no bottom." Then he grins. "Let me spring for the hot dogs. My boss pays me *really* well."

Winter Soldier has posed:
A dubious tilt to his brows, at that. "What defines 'human'?" he asks, and his voice is gentle. "I never bought this thing about mutants not being human. They're just different, they can do different things. But they're still people. I'm human. I'm just....a damaged human, that's all." He picks up Lili's leash again, turns to look for the nearest steps up back to the boardwalk.

Cypher has posed:
"The thing is? That wide-spread social rejection is causing us to form our own cultures, our own society, our own linguistic patois in various languages. *We* are starting to reject the idea that we're human. And I think the damage's been done, there. I'm not sure a reconciliation's really possible, at this point. What the end of that is... I don't know." Then Doug adds, "I had a close friendship with an ET, a multimorphic alien life-form. He infected me with the techno-organic virus, whether accidentally or on purpose... I don't know. Normally, it turns whatever's infected with it into monsters. But Warlock... Warlock was one of a kind, among his entire race." Then he grins at Bucky. "You're so much more than that, sir."

Winter Soldier has posed:
That assessment of how the ghettoization of mutants has changed things makes Buck's lips press together in that thin, grim line. "I hope so," he says, quietly. "I already fought one war over the idea that an accident of birth made you more or less worthy of space on this planet,"

The line of his back is tense, as he leads the way up the steps. "That's wild," he says. "I still can't get used to that....that there are real aliens here. I've met some....I know a few Asgardians, but they look so much like us, most of the time...." He waves away the idea. "Nah," he says. "The whole point of all of it was reproducibility, you know? An army, not just one soldier. Just dumb luck that Steve and I were one-offs."

Cypher has posed:
"No, I mean..." He says, "You helped lead your generation in a fight not just against an army, but a language. It's a language that just... It thought about people as if they were meat to be mechanically separated, like chicken." He shakes his head, and says, "It's probably not good to get too effervescent about it." Then he says, "But really, the arm's not even the wildest thing about me! I'm not how much of it I should talk about... but... you're *Bucky*."

Winter Soldier has posed:
There's an incredulous little look, over his shoulder, as he heads along the boardwalk towards the hot dog place. "Exactly. An idea. The most poisonous idea we come up with. That was the argument - if you could redefine these other groups as not *people*, you could do what you liked, right? The poisonous Jew, and all that. But no, tell me. You were a mutant even before you met that alien?"

Cypher has posed:
"...Yes. Ever since I was born, I imagine, though it first manifested in 7th grade Spanish class. I walked in knowing eh... taco and Burrito. By the end of the first class I was having conversations with the teacher in Spanish. That night, I read Don Quixote cover to cover in Spanish. I didn't realize I was actually a Mutant until later... at around the same time I meant the alien."

Winter Soldier has posed:
Buck has a swinging, easy pace - the motion of someone very, very used to covering long miles on foot. Lili trots beside him proudly, head and tail held high. "Linguistics, huh?" he says. There's a touch of envy in his voice. "I coulda used that, during the war. I spoke a handful of languages, but....man. How does the power work, exactly?" A sidelong glance at Doug, before he insinuates them to the end of the line stretching down the boardwalk.

Cypher has posed:
"I'm a specialized hypercognitive." Doug says. "The ability to recognize patterns and reciprocate in them is one of the fundamental abilities that's led human beings to become the dominant mammal on the planet. I take that ability and turbocharge it... I can do it better, and faster. A language I've never heard before and has no earth root... might take me a few minutes before it really clicks and I achieve full fluency."

Winter Soldier has posed:
He doesn't suffer from the modern need to be constantly checking his phone. No, his attention is on Doug, and there's fascination there. "I think you're the one mutant I know I've really had a discussion with about it," he admits, sounding uneasy. "Which is ....on me. I've left it to others to deal with...." As if helping destroy Sentinel installations somehow wasn't contributing.

Cypher has posed:
"I was lucky." Doug says. "I'm personal friends with one mutant whose powers manifested during a *mine collapse* and another whose girlfriend was killed as a direct result of his powers manifesting and him becoming a high-profile target." He shakes his head. "Me...?" He says, "My traumatic moment didn't happen until later." He rubs his chin, as he leads the way to the hot dog stand. "...One hot dog with mustard and onions, please. One plain dog, nothing on it, and one with whatever my friend here wants."

Winter Soldier has posed:
Buck's is plain with mustard. He listens to that explanation, brow furrowing, that little line graven deeper and deeper. "Damn," he says. "It sounds like it doesn't often come easy, the finding out. That....'ve you found that to be true? That it seems to come with trauma?" His voice is soft, as if anyone might really be attending to their conversation.

Cypher has posed:
Doug nods -- and then he switches to French, easily, seamlessly. "Oui." He takes a bite of his hot dog, chews it, swallows it. "For a lot of mutants, it's your old life coming to a crashing halt." He adds, "You're alienated from your friends, your family... sometimes even your clothes no longer fit right--" He chews another bite. "...Mine was relatively painless. At least 'till I died."

Winter Soldier has posed:
Winter Soldier gives a little hissing breath of disbelief. "You, too, huh? How'd that happen?" Wait, he died? That's not really in the history books. They're back away from the line, now...and Buck gives Lili her dog, as well as unfolding a little water bowl for her to drink from. Hey, hot dogs make you thirsty.

Cypher has posed:
"Well." Doug says, easily, "Some friends and I happened across a mutate that had escaped from a lab where they were... well, making mutates. Animal-human hybrids. We attacked the facility hoping to set the mutates free, and the head scientist drew a gun on one of my friends. I could see that she was going to get shot in the back of the head, so I tackled her out of the way, and took the hit instead." He pets Lili, as she eats her hot dog. "Dying was... cold, mostly. Really cold."

Winter Soldier has posed:
"I fell off a mountain into a frozen river," He still remembers it, Steve's outstretched hand, the last cold seconds...Buck's voice is bleak. "How'd you end up here, then?"

Cypher has posed:
Doug looks up at Bucky, and says, "My last words were promising my friend, who wasn't even paying attention, that I'd never do it again." He puts his hand on Bucky's shoulder, and then says, "Same reason I have this arm. I'm a Kurzweilian nightmare. Though the arm didn't come till later."

Winter Soldier has posed:
"So....you already had the help built in, and it saved you, regenerated you?" Buck wonders, looking at it. "Man, it's a hell of a lot more impressive than this." Yeah, he's a little envious. Lili finishes bolting her hot dog, and slurps noisily from the water dish.

Cypher has posed:
"It's a little more complicated than that." Doug says. Then he puts his hand on his chin. "I have to ask... what's your range of sensation with that thing? Is it just a pressure sense, or does it give you a full tactile range? Is it permanently attached, or is it a prosthetic you can take off?" He seems to be thinking of something...

Winter Soldier has posed:
Winter Soldier glances back to his own. "Pressure, temperature, damage....the former's fine enough that I can do very, very fine manipulation with it. I gotta give 'em kudos for the nerve adaptation stuff they did to make it work. No, it's permanent. It's anchored all over my whole upper body. You'd have to kill me to remove it..."

Cypher has posed:
Doug nods, once. "Yeah? I know a guy who's really, *really* good with that sort of stuff. So if it's ever painful, or malfunctioning, or anything like that, just..." He thinks, "Come by X-Corporation Headquarters in Bushwick and I'll see if I can get you a session with him. He built his own cybernetic leg... I think he lost his in Iraq. I never asked him."

Winter Soldier has posed:
"I'd....I'd like that," he says, quietly. "I'm always happy to find out....to get more options with this thing. IT does hurt, sometimes." Read: .....most of the time. Lili, satisfied, licks her whiskers, and sits up to lean against Bucky's leg.

Cypher has posed:
Doug pauses, and then murmurs... "Let me see what I can do. It's a decision that's over my head, but I'll find out." He says. "Give me your number, and I'll let you know?" He takes his phone out. "I'm sending a text now."