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Jul 5, 2006 11:54:01 GMT -5
Post by Pyro on Jul 5, 2006 11:54:01 GMT -5
He couldn't stare at all that paperwork forever, of course, and after a while John left the office, padding in his bare feet down to the kitchen area at the end of the corridor. Python had already offloaded several crates of supplies there so food there was aplenty. He made himself something to eat and to his delight found several cartons of pineapple juice in the fridge. He downed nearly two litres without batting an eyelid. It was his greatest weakness.
The break did him a strange power of good. By the time he made it back to his office, he was no longer slouching and there was more of a spring in his step. He set aside the paperwork on NovaTeX for now and moved onto the other pressing matter.
Recruitment.
On the reverse side of the business cards he'd sent Sekhmet out to get produced there had been an untraceable - he did have SOME contacts of his own - voicemail number. He'd not yet had a chance to see if there were any messages.
There were messages.
There were several messages.
Most of them - nearly all of them were people screaming abuse. Or possibly the same person, as there was just enough time for the caller to leave their name and number. The headache that had started earlier got a little worse the more he listened.
Then he paused and scribbled something down on the pad of paper in front of him.
Aurora. He hastily wrote down her number and then had to endure several more insults before the end. Wow. One caller.
Still, that was one more than he had planned.
He picked up his cell phone and punched in the number the woman had left on the voicemail. It had to be worth a try.
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Jul 5, 2006 14:19:09 GMT -5
Post by Aurora on Jul 5, 2006 14:19:09 GMT -5
Aurora stood at a hotdog stand on a sidewalk of downtown Montreal. She'd waited in the hot sun for a good ten minutes before finally it was her turn to order--and then the rude-looking man had curtly told her that he had to get more supplies. Which was fine. Aurora had nodded politely and waited. 'Parfait,' she thought as she stood in the shade of the bright yellow awning.
When the hotdog man returned, he emptied new condiments into the cart before turning to Aurora. "What can I get you?" He asked shortly.
Aurora blinked a few times. "Eh...I just paid. For a plain hotdog?" She spoke tentatively, as if reminding him. Inwardly, she was concentrating. 'Confusion'. She conjured up what it felt to be confused, and willed him to feel that feeling. She felt a surge of triumph as his face showed the emotion. 'Now...realization...'
"Oh--er, right..." The man began to assemble the hotdog, and Aurora relaxed visibly. He handed it to her, and she thanked him and turned away. As she walked to a large fountain in front of a shopping centre, she felt the cell phone in her pocket vibrate.
Shifting the hotdog to the other hand, she pulled out the phone. She didn't recognize the number...It was an international call. Which meant (probably)--speak English. Flipping it open, she held it to her ear. "'Ello?"
(ooc: In the message, she said Aurora, not J-M)
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Jul 5, 2006 15:34:50 GMT -5
Post by Pyro on Jul 5, 2006 15:34:50 GMT -5
The accent was the same as the girl who had left the message; a generally good indication that at least he'd most likely written the number down correctly.
John sat back in the office chair, swinging his bare feet up onto the large desk. "Hi," he said, in his most professional manner. "I'm trying to track down Aurora. She left a message with my answering service. I'm guessing she got my business card."
The business cards had worked. The simplest ideas, Magneto had always said, were always the best ones, John. "Are you Aurora?"
(OC: Sorry for both shortness of post and my error, which have now corrected)
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Jul 5, 2006 15:54:12 GMT -5
Post by Aurora on Jul 5, 2006 15:54:12 GMT -5
A grin spread across Aurora's face at what the man--who sounded to be somewhere around her own age--on the other end said. "Ah, oui, I am Aurora. Thank you so much for getting back to me so quickly."
She sat on the stone edge of the fountain and crossed her legs, leaning forward and resting her elbow on her knees. "I was 'oping to learn more about the Brotherhood--perhaps if you are looking for new members?"
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Jul 5, 2006 16:26:48 GMT -5
Post by Pyro on Jul 5, 2006 16:26:48 GMT -5
"Let me introduce you to some of the most important rules of life," said John, his brow furrowing at the woman's open admission of what she wanted to do. "Rule one, and the rule that everyone in the world should adhere to - don't get caught. There's a lot of rules. But right now, that's the most important. So..."
He thought quickly.
"You'd like to meet with the head of the monastery winery, hmm? Brother Hood is always eager to get new recruits. I'm pretty sure I can facilitate a meeting at some point. What, exactly, makes you want to come along and join our happy little band?"
It was obscure, it was random - and it was an open cell line. Message scramblers or not, John liked playing these little games with Brotherhood wannabes.
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Jul 5, 2006 17:32:49 GMT -5
Post by Aurora on Jul 5, 2006 17:32:49 GMT -5
'Rule one, and the rule that everyone in the world should adhere to - don't get caught.'
Aurora's face grew somewhat serious--though her interest in The Brotherhood was deepened with the bold statement. Clearly there was much about the organization that she didn't know. What would they get caught for doing? Just being mutants? Surely the persecution was not so fierce...
Aurora turned her head away from the phone to hide the soft laughter she couldn't conceal upon listening to the smooth but outlandish cover-up. Holding the phone to her ear again, she replied, thinking just as smoothly--Aurora was, apparently, a natural liar. It must have been natural--because before tricking the hotdog man into thinking she'd paid for her lunch, when she had barely any money at all, had been her first lie. And she'd done it without a second thought.
"I 'ave just come to see the glorious light of the...All-Powerful God...And I am looking for a place in which I can be a part of His flock. I would dedicate my life to Him, and so I offer to 'elp you...And Brother Hood...In the winery of the monastery."
As she finished speaking, a pleased smirk played on her lips. She knew a lot about religion. After all, she did know that she'd spent much of her life--well, sort of--in a strict Catholic school.
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Jul 5, 2006 18:09:10 GMT -5
Post by Pyro on Jul 5, 2006 18:09:10 GMT -5
"Well, that's just fine to hear, Aurora, I'm pretty sure Brother Hood will be delighted for the opportunity to meet you. However, the logistics of arranging such a meeting are a little...complex."
John swung his feet off the table and checked the other number he had written down. "I'm gonna give you a telephone number," he said. "Someone who, like you, wants to come see how things are run here at the winery. I'd suggest you get together and talk things through. It's a massive commitment."
It was a clever idea: if either of these two 'applicants' were in any way out to expose them, they'd have to size one another up first before they were let loose on the Brotherhood properly.
"Her name's Angie - call her on this number..." John gave out the number. "Tell her the password's Nightingale. Now ... I may be able to facilitate a meeting in Baltimore in a few days, but I'll call you nearer the time. How does that sound?"
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Jul 5, 2006 18:27:16 GMT -5
Post by Aurora on Jul 5, 2006 18:27:16 GMT -5
Aurora wrote the number down on her palm with a pen from the pocket of her uniform's torn skirt. Old uniform, that was. She didn't need it anymore; she just didn't have any other clothes.
'I may be able to facilitate a meeting in Baltimore in a few days, but I'll call you nearer the time. How does that sound?'
The proposal actually sounded like a grim one to Aurora, and for a long moment she was silent. She hadn't known what to expect, and she had been trying to steel herself for the propability that she wouldn't be contacted that day, and what she would have to do come nightfall when she wasn't. But she had never truly faced it, always harboring the hope that by night she would be in some safehouse for mutants, provided by The Brotherhood. Or someplace...Other than the streets.
Normally, one would have lied and said politely, 'Oh, yes, that's wonderful'. But Aurora didn't know much of such formalities. After all, she'd only been around for a few days, scattered over the last seven years. So rather than answer him, she asked a question of her own.
"If one does not have a bed to sleep in...What is the next best place?" She spoke without embarrassment, without wounded pride. She asked in case this man, whoever he was, had any sort of an answer.
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Jul 6, 2006 12:25:11 GMT -5
Post by Pyro on Jul 6, 2006 12:25:11 GMT -5
"If one does not have a bed to sleep in...What is the next best place?"
A very good question and one that John had found the answer out to the hard way. "Find yourself a decent hostel," he said, suggesting something he'd never done himself. "Failing that, find the place that affords you the most shelter and the best all-round view of oncoming pedestrian traffic and hold tight until you DO have a bed to sleep in."
John had never found the hostel. He'd been too proud.
"I am afraid I have to cut the conversation short, Aurora," he said. "I appreciate you taking the time to enquire after our organisation. It means a lot to me to know that the message is out there and getting around. And please - pass on the details to as many other ... suitable candidates ... as you see fit."
He got up from the chair and headed over to the printer to get the latest batch of information that he'd just printed out.
"I will call you in a day or two," he said. "Don't store this phone number, it gets cycle-changed on a regular basis."
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Jul 6, 2006 12:38:02 GMT -5
Post by Aurora on Jul 6, 2006 12:38:02 GMT -5
Aurora took his advice in stride, with a nod he couldn't see as she filed the information away. "Merc--" She quickly remembered what language she needed to speak in, and adjusted smoothly. "Thank you, Rassophor," she said gracefully, without thinking that he wouldn't know what the title a newly-tonsured monk was. Or even what 'tonsured' was.
"I hope to see you soon."
Then she hung up. She slipped her phone away and ate her lunch, putting off for just a bit longer the lonely and tiring journey that seemed to lay ahead of her.
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