InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I'm sensitive & I like it"

Katherine Athena (oceantoocean) wrote in we_float,
@ 2010-05-11 20:31:00

Current music:	"Candidate" : David Bowie
Entry tags:	plot: the city sleeps

"We'll pretend we're walking home 'cause your future's at stake..."
Who: All characters who received a black envelope, plus Katherine Athena, Alistair Icenhour, and Tereska Wasserbach.
What: The web begins to unravel. Or the first part, anyhow.
When: May 8th
Where: Anhalt Building, 1005 E. Roy Street. Begins on the upper floor.
Status: Open; in progress.
Notes: This thread is likely to run slow because of work schedules and the east/west time zone divide. Sorry about that... :( You're welcome to continue on the other thread. This simply takes place at a nebulous time afterwards.

It was time.

It had been past time from the moment the senator had heard ""Well, I don't think it'll actually answer... just that we might get a response if we ask for one." That was all that Katherine needed to stand up, nodding to her companions as she unlocked the door to the upstairs room and stepped out into the hallway.

Her footsteps echoed in the empty space, the sound of her heels confident as they crossed the floorboards, pausing for a moment on the stair.

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	timestoodstill 2010-05-12 10:47 pm UTC (link)
	"Why us?" Tom asked, more curious than demanding, and certain he was asking what everyone else was thinking. "Why us in particular? Two of us haven't even drawn." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

oceantoocean
2010-05-12 11:01 pm UTC (link)

"And may never draw. I know that." Katherine's eyes lit upon JT, first, then Ganesh. "If I call upon only jokers or only aces or nats, that will only schism the situation further. What needs to be proven is that all of us can work together towards the common good."

The actual criteria on which she had drawn was significantly more pragmatic. Each member of this group had a secret. And one that could be manipulated.

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timestoodstill
2010-05-12 11:07 pm UTC (link)

"You didn't answer my question," Tom said. "Why the ten of us? Why me? Why Maxxie? Why JT and everyone else? We're far from the only aces, jokers, and nats in the city, so there must have been some reason, something that made us stand out to you, made us think that we would want to help you. How did you find us, choose, us, out of hundreds of thousands, millions of people?"

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oceantoocean
2010-05-12 11:13 pm UTC (link)

Katherine smiled quietly, her lips still pressed neatly together.

"Random chance, in part," she replied. "Although geographic location was a piece of it. Research. Speaking to people who knew you. Records. Each one of you is different. Each one of you was researched differently."

Her posture grew more relaxed. "I could tell you specifically why each of you was selected but in some cases, I feel as if sharing that information would be delicate. The reasons are as simple in some instances as trusting that a person would be curious enough to want to see if this experiment has any effect on how others perceive the wild card, as crass as thinking that throwing a large sum of money might motivate others, as righteous as believing that some of the people in this room might wish to save the victims of the storm that is coming."

"For there is a storm on the way," Katherine said quietly. "The last Wild Cards Act was passed in an era that had considerably stricter morals than we do now. Or, if not that, limited creativity."

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timestoodstill
2010-05-12 11:26 pm UTC (link)

"What does that matter?" Tom asked. He realized he should probably let others ask questions, but he couldn't keep the words back. "Shouldn't that help us? I mean, if morals," he grimaced at the word, "aren't as strict, you would think that would mean people would care less about people's... oddities. Right? Unless you think this signifies some sort of moral backlash. But why now? You obviously know better than we do what's going on out there. So was there some incident that spurred this?" He forced himself to stop, or risk having half of his questions get lost in the shuffle and not answered.

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palehorses
2010-05-13 12:39 am UTC (link)

"Get real," Matt said, but his tone remained cheerful, and he clearly intended no insult. "They haven't brought back the acts just for fun. Whether we're less moral now isn't really the question, because unless I'm not understanding the situation correctly, they just took away most of our rights. Maybe all of them. Until a couple hours ago, I would've agreed with you." A nod at Tom. "Now - I'm not quite so sanguine."

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oceantoocean
2010-05-13 12:43 am UTC (link)

"Morals also determine how we treat other people," Katherine replied to Tom. "Or at least, I would regard that as a question of personal morality. In terms of why now... there is a piece of legislation that has just been signed that provides the federal and state governments the justification to begin legalizing prejudice."

She wasn't going to state the obvious--if the group didn't grasp the importance of what was being filtered through the radio now, it wasn't something that a stranger would communicate to them. They would have to come to that conclusion alone.

Glancing around the room, she added, "I've given you a choice. And it is that--a choice. I'm willing to pay you for your time and to provide this space for your use. What I want from you is a pledge that you'll work towards re-establishing the status of wild cards." Katherine stood. "I don't expect any of you to act on this without time to think. It wouldn't be fair or reasonable."

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	timestoodstill 2010-05-13 12:48 am UTC (link)
	"What I meant," Tom said, "what I think maybe you're in a better position to know than we are, is why they've suddenly brought the Wild Card Acts back. That's what I'm not getting; why now? Did I miss something that made the legislators of this country decide that all of a sudden, a hundred some years later, we're not human anymore?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

oceantoocean
2010-05-13 12:52 am UTC (link)

"Terrorist activity," the woman said as she touched her watch, watching the lines of text scroll up on it. "First, they found an ace who tried to immolate the capital in January. February, mass murder spree in Yachats, Oregon by a joker who lost his mind- you'll have read about that, I'm sure. Three days later, an ace who could turn her hands into razors accidentally killed her younger sister."

Katherine paused. "People need a bogeyman. We used to have the Middle East until the treaties. We aren't at war with Central America openly any longer. We solved the problem of oil consumption by opening up trade on other planets. Medical technology has conquered more diseases than we once knew existed. What's left? The Wild Card."

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	timestoodstill 2010-05-13 12:56 am UTC (link)
	Tom nodded, and for once was quiet, thinking. He glanced back over his shoulder at Maxxie. He knew his answer. He hoped he knew hers as well. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	palehorses 2010-05-13 12:59 am UTC (link)
	He had to admit, at least in the privacy of his own head, that what she offered sounded interesting, but Matt looked carefully at Katherine before he said "And if the answer's no? Whatever interests you represent, you know a lot about us. Is no even an option?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	blackhole_son 2010-05-13 01:02 am UTC (link)
	"It has to be. Otherwise they're just like them. Right?" Del bit his lip, his phone burning a hole in his pocket. "Can we bring anyone else in?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	palehorses 2010-05-13 01:04 am UTC (link)
	Matt offered him a bright smile. "Doesn't matter if they're just like them or not. They've got the barrel and we're the ones on it. And I wouldn't bet on it." His eyes flicked to the two people who'd come in with Katherine. One was obvious muscle, and the other he wasn't sure about, but he suspected that he probably didn't really want to find out. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	lifeibreathe 2010-05-13 01:09 am UTC (link)
	"What do you think is going to happen? What will they do?" Zadkiel didn't even look up when he spoke, just stared at the edge of the table. His hands were clenched between his knees so no one could see them shaking. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

oceantoocean
2010-05-13 01:14 am UTC (link)

"'They' happen to still be in the room." Katherine reminded them all quietly. "And as far as threats go, I have no intention in that direction." At the present time.

She nodded to the group. "I'll leave you to discuss it. If you leave a message for me here, I will receive it." There were likely to be further questions and she paused before stepping away, to offer them that chance.

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	blackhole_son 2010-05-13 01:19 am UTC (link)
	"Wait - you didn't answer my question," Del said, sliding off the table, looking terribly serious as he crossed the distance fluidly. "Can we bring anyone else in?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	oceantoocean 2010-05-13 01:21 am UTC (link)
	Her eyes examined the man in front of her before she responded, "Yes. Within reason. We can't afford an army at this juncture." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	plusthree 2010-05-13 02:46 am UTC (link)
	"Afford?" Mickey looked at her, really looked, because this woman obviously knew about his idiosynchracies. "Does that mean you'll be paying us? And what do you mean by using this space?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	oceantoocean 2010-05-13 03:03 am UTC (link)
	"Every team needs a headquarters," she said swiftly. "And some of you, if not all, a place to live. This space is large enough for that, should you need." Katherine glanced over at Alistair for a moment, then back. "Yes, those who choose to do so will draw a salary. Not a fortune, but enough to cover expenses." Athena Enterprises would see to that. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	plusthree 2010-05-13 03:36 am UTC (link)
	"Yes," Mickey said decisively. He didn't need to think, and he didn't need to consult. What he needed was a place to live that wasn't currently under riots. "When do we talk about the silence?" He looked away from her as he added this to the mental notes he'd been scribbling, that they had a new home, and a new job of a sort. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	oceantoocean 2010-05-13 03:53 am UTC (link)
	"Later," she said. "There will be time and I suspect that's a conversation that the two of us are capable of having on our own." It would be later, Katherine thought. Much, much later. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

maxblinks
2010-05-13 01:14 pm UTC (link)

"So what you're saying is, you're looking for the perfect poster children for the Wild Card, and you're willing to pay us and put us up if we agree to smile pretty and play nice and remind people that we aren't the villains in this story," Maxxie summed it up.

"Some of us aren't necessarily the best reminders of that already," she pointed out. After all, her transgressions, unintended as they were, were also public knowledge. Possibly too public, she thought, for this. If redemption were up for grabs for smiling pretty, she'd have had it years ago. She perfected that look when she was six.

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	sparkleboi 2010-05-13 03:40 pm UTC (link)
	"Also," JT chimed in before Kathrin could answer Maxxie, "what exactly are we going to be doing? So we'd be a team. Teams do things, right?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	tasteofmetal 2010-05-13 04:33 pm UTC (link)
	Tereska stepped forward at that. "That's not the point," she said. "The point is, you decide. Now. We don't have time to piss about with this. You're going into it blind, to some extent, but you either agree, or not. Now." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

maxblinks
2010-05-13 04:36 pm UTC (link)

Maxxie rolled her eyes, hands on her hips. "Intimidate much? You want us to lock ourselves up and sell ourselves to you, we deserve an answer or three about the resources we'll have and what's expected. You're bribing us, not blackmailing, and really, it'd be best if you didn't try to make yourself look like you might be just as bad as the ones blowing up the jokers out there."

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