Characters: Daryn and Rick Setting: Wednesday, Daryn's Office Summary: Letting Rick in on the secret
Rick was excited to see Daryn today. He had the blueprints all worked up and written, not on blue paper but regular notebook paper, under his arms. He had to be resourceful on the island so drawing up scale drawings of his plans were more difficult, but he had lumped in the correct paper into his request and he was hoping to receive it too. Once he was at Daryn’s office, he knocked on the door, forgetting his strength and knocking much too hard on accident.
Although Daryn had been expecting Rick, and even scheduled him in as an ‘appointment’ so that they wouldn’t be disturbed, she was still startled by the loud knock on her office door. Then again, being alone in her office still made her a little uneasy ever since that incident weeks ago. Taking a deep breath to collect herself, she rose from her chair and moved to open the door. Seeing the young man waiting eagerly, she offered him a smile and motioned for him to come in. ”Thank you for coming to meet with me. How are you today?”
Rick smiled, hearing her in his mind as she 'spoke'. It was still strange but in the coolest way possible. She had something really special there and he was excited to get to share in it with her. "Good, good. Sorry about the knock. Sometimes I forget."
“It’s quite alright, you were just being polite. No harm in that.” Closing the door behind them, so that they would have some privacy, she let him take a seat and then joined him in an adjacent chair. She nodded to his notebook with a little smile. “Have you been busy at work on this project? I hope it’s not taking too much time away from your other responsibilities.”
“I’m glad to have something to be busy on,” Rick said, smiling as he sat down in the seat across from Daryn. He produced the notebook and flipped to the page that housed his drawings of the proposed safe houses. “It’s not quite the right scale, but I’ve already put in requests for the material and I’ll have actual paper to do the correct drawings on soon, I hope.”
Daryn looked over the plans carefully, pleased with what she saw. “This looks excellent. Will you need help from others, once you have the materials and approval to break ground? I could ask around for assistance.” Although, since they had last spoken, Daryn had made a discovery, or more like a confirmation, that might complicate things a bit. “Forgive me if we’ve discussed this before, but approximately how many people will each of these structures hold safely?”
"Assistance would be nice. It'd be really nice, actually," He said, smiling as he thought about that. How it would feel to have a crew again. Her question brought him back to his wits and he nodded. "Ten each. Is that enough? Ten each, five safe houses. I can revisit the plans.."
“Ten adults.” It was more of a statement than a question. She frowned slowly but said nothing else about it. She’d have to make adjustments to other plans in order to account for the others, and for the children. “How many people do you think you will you need to help with the job?”
"I could use a good team of six or seven, but really anyone that wants to help would be great," Rick said, frowning a little as he looked back at her. "Is ten adults not good enough? I can revisit. I wasn't sure how many you wanted. You didn't really say…" At least, he didn't really remember if she had. Maybe he needed to pay attention more.
She knew that Rick was risking a lot to help, without truly knowing the whole story. She wasn’t going to push both of their luck with asking for more. She offered a faint smile and shook her head no. “It will be fine, we will work with what we have. I don’t know if I can promise seven, but I am sure I can find at least three able bodied people willing to help. What else can I do to help?”
"Three is better than none," He said, looking back at Daryn with a grin. "As long as you think the blueprints are ok, then I just wait for the materials to come in and then get started on the buildings once we have them. Is there anything that I need to change on those prints?"
“The blueprints look good to me, but I do have a question about it all. Obviously, these will be built to stand up as a shelter to natural disasters like storms. But, how secure do you think they would be against other… threats.” Although she wasn’t speaking out loud, she was still always cautious about discussing sensitive issues in her office, or close to any government monitored area. Yet she still felt an obligation to let Rick know that this wasn’t all exactly as it seemed.
"I guess it depends on what they are…" He said, wondering if he should be thinking this instead of saying it. Maybe something was not so out in the open as he thought it might have been. So he decided to think instead. What kind of threats are we talking about?"
She smiled as he caught on quickly. “The same threats we deal with on a daily basis. But they’ll likely be on a larger scale, at some point.” She left it at that for now, curious as to what his response would be.
This mostly just confused Rick, so he tried to think about it but ended up just nodding. Well, I can try and make some…basic defenses in the houses. I'm not really sure what we're trying to ward against but I can come up with some safety plans too…
Sensing his confusion, she sat back in the chair in thought for a moment, weighing several options. After a short silence, she returned her attention to him. “Would you like to go for a walk?” Outside the Facility walls she’d be able to ‘speak’ more freely and this seemed like the best time to do so.
Rick didn't know what to make of this but at least Daryn still seemed…happyish. So he nodded and reached for his makeshift blueprints, tucking them under his arm. "Sure," He said, giving her a smile and trying his best to just go along with whatever was happening here, even though he still wasn't entirely sure. "Where to?"
She took a moment to ‘lock’ her computer, although she knew that was a ridiculous precaution and did little to protect anything confidential she might have on there. Standing, she motioned to the door, allowing him to exit first before locking it behind both of them. She led him down the hall, away from the medical sector of the building and toward the nearest exit, moving at a leisurely pace. She glanced to him curiously as she decided where to begin. “How long have you been here on Destruction?”
Rick watched her take all the precautions necessary and then some before starting down the hallway, matching her pace as much as possible. "I've been here…not extremely long. Long enough, I think. I'd like to get back out there, get started on my construction business. How long have you been here?"
“A little over five years, I was among the first group sent here.” Although it was the truth, it still felt strange to Daryn that she had been here so long, and so much had changed in that time. She was such a different person now, but unfortunately those who would have noticed the change were gone now. “I suppose you’ve been here long enough to take notice of the problems.” She let him make any inferences about what that might mean.
Rick wasn't exactly sure what he she was talking about but he listened and tried to place her concerns. I think that there are some things that they could be doing differently, but I'm not sure how to fix them. I wish I didn't have to ask them for support at all. I want to be able to build my buildings without their permission.
She was surprised that was his only concern, but she wasn’t going to plant anything in his head. As they moved outside, she relaxed slightly, but continued to lead them away from the building. “You haven’t had any trouble from the guards or anyone, have you?” While she hadn’t seen it in action, she could infer that his ability might help him if he was approached in a threatening manner.
Not really, but they seemed way more hesitant this time. I had to plead with them more than I've ever had to before. Rick said, looking back at Daryn. Have you been getting some push back? I can…talk to whoever it is for you. I don't want anyone to be giving you a hard time, Daryn.
She slowed to a stop, turning to face him. They were not far from the building, she would have prefered to have gone further away, but his thoughts stopped her. She offered a small, almost sad smile, shaking her head. “That’s very sweet of you to offer.” Realizing that he really had no idea about how bad things were, she was having second thoughts about telling him anything. He was a good kid and didn’t need to get wrapped up in this sort of thing. “I probably won’t be around for much longer. I don’t think I’ll have to deal with problems for very long now.” She hesitated, looking back to the Facility building with a heavy sigh. “Perhaps this all was a bad idea.”
Rick frowned a little more, not ready to just let her say that and have her walk away. "Hey, woah. Daryn…what the hell are you talking about? Where are you going? If you've got a way off this place, I want to know. I don't want to be stuck here. I want to go back home. If you know how to do that, tell me...please."
Daryn wasn’t sure how to respond. She hadn’t told anyone about the information she’d found in the files she’d stolen. And telling Rick anything about that, without explaining her connection to the Faction, would only confuse him further. “I’m working on a way to make it so that people can leave if they want to. A way to make things better for all of us stuck here. But it’s not going to be easy, and quite honestly, I’m not sure if I want to get you caught up in it. Too many people are already in danger. I’d rather keep you safe by not getting you involved any further than necessary.”
"Well, I already know about it now," He said, gesturing to her with a grin on his lips. "So you might as well count me in, because I'm stubborn and I want to help. Whatever it is, if it helps us get back home again, then I'm for it. And I want to be a part of it. I'm not just a construction worker, Daryn. I've got these new skills, they could probably help out with whatever you're looking to do."
She watched him with a small frown, still not feeling very good about all of this. But he did have a point, he already knew too much. “What do you know, if anything, about the Faction?” Most people at least heard rumors about the uprising, but if someone showed interest it wasn’t hard to find out the basics of it all. It wasn’t public knowledge exactly who was involved, not yet anyway.
Not much. Just rumblings, I guess, that they're a revolution, basically… Rick thought, looking back her way. Are you telling me the Faction is actually real? Next you'll be telling me you're their secret leader or something, He thought with the grin back on his lips.
She watched him in amusement and shrugged. “Me? The leader of an underground mutant uprising? Don’t be ridiculous, who would ever believe that?” She turned, walking again with him away from the building. “What do you think I’m involved in then?”
Now Rick was watching her, eying her as they walked further away from the building. Now sure. You’re so mysterious, maybe you really are the leader of a mutant uprising...That could be cool. All of us banding together to figure out how to make people see us as normal still…
She looked to him once again, honestly surprised at his response. “Am I really mysterious? I don’t intend to be, not completely.” Walking still, she looked ahead, thinking about his words before responding. “Not all of us are banding together. And I doubt we’ll ever be ‘normal’ again. But maybe we can at least regain some sort of respect and dignity, before they destroy it completely.”
You definitely are mysterious. But I think it's a good thing, He said, giving her another smile. Definitely helps if you're part of some resistance organization. Looking back in front of him, he thought on it for a moment, weighed her next words, and nodded. If you are, part of some organization I mean…I'd like to join.
“Why?” Daryn knew she had her own reasons for joining, and for reluctantly accepting the position as leader. But she wanted to know why anyone else in their right mind would get involved in something that could possibly get them killed in the end. “It’s one thing to know about all of this, and to support it. But to join, to be a part of this… I’m not going to let you risk getting into trouble unless it’s a damn good reason.”
Isn't because I want to a good enough reason? He asked, looking back at Daryn. I want to be a part of this. I'd like to be a part of this. I want to help. Why are you so against me joining? He ended up grinning a little more. I think you could probably use me. I'm actually really useful. Got some extra strength thanks to the mutations. I could be helpful.
“I have no doubt that you could be helpful to us. But you’re a good guy, and I don’t want to see you getting hurt over this. I’ve lost everyone I was close to, all good people. I’m not exactly begging to see another friend hurt or killed or worse. I already worry enough about everyone here, especially those who joined the Faction before I had any really say in the matter. Needless to say, I’m not very comfortable with the recruitment end of things.” She watched him carefully and then looked away. “I just think you should think carefully about what you’re getting yourself into.”
And I appreciate that thought, Daryn, really, but I want to join. I want to be a part of this. I want to help us all get home someday. Rick didn't think he could go away from this conversation not being part of the Faction anymore. It was too important a calling, too necessary, and he needed to do his duty and join. So where do I sign up?
Sighing, she stopped walking and turned to study him. He was pretty adamant about this, and she did need his help with the shelters at the very least. “There will be a weapons training meeting later this week if you want to come. We’ll also be doing some power training too, if you’re interested in that. Beside that, I’d rather you focus on the shelters. And, if you have any ideas about where to put the children, I’m all ears.”
Rick grinned a little and nodded. You got it, ma'am, he thought. He'd give the majority of his attention to the shelters but he would more than likely hop into those training sessions too. The more knowledge he had, the better. Thank you for taking me.