Post by Pyro on Jul 28, 2006 10:25:09 GMT -5
Cross-posted to North America thread
John was dragged from a fairly restive sleep by the sound of his cellphone ringing. Not for John Allerdyce the cheesiness of a tune for a ringtone. He'd set it to sound like a phone. The very thought of using a dinky little tune set his teeth on edge.
At first, he tried to reach over to turn the alarm off, but that obviously had no effect and the phone continued to ring.
Sitting up, blinking in the early dawn light, John reached for the phone and flipped it open.
"What?" he said, curtly, tired and grumpy.
The one word answer wasn't enough to know if she'd called the same guy who'd recorded the voicemail, and she didn't want to risk her safety - and Aurora's, and the Brotherhood's - by saying something stupid to the wrong person. Pausing for a moment, Angie chose her words carefully. "My name is Angie. I was told to call this number by a friend, who I believe you were speaking to earlier." That should be enough to discern if it was the right person or not - if the guy asked what the hell she was on about, she'd apologise for the wrong number and ask Aurora for her phone again.
"Angie?"
The name meant nothing to Pyro and he stared at the phone suspiciously. "I don't know an Angie. Listen, lady, you sure you have the right number? You just woke me up and I'm not in any mood to buy double glazing."
The voice was very definitely the same as the voicemail: a male voice, obviously quite young.
Well, he'd given her the wrong answer, but the voice was right this time. And sounded kinda pissed, so she dropped all attempts at being careful.
"Nightingale ring a bell? I'm looking for Pyro."
There was a silence.
"OK, you have my attention. I'm Pyro."
John sat up in the bed and swung his legs round, sitting on the edge and rubbing at his tired eyes. "Nightingale, huh? Friend of Aurora. Give me the lowdown on Baltimore."
"That's the one." She paused for a moment, wondering where to start. "We've checked out the building, security is pretty tight. Aurora said that there's no entrances without guards, and most of the bigger hallways have guards in there too, but she thinks that there should be more for something so important." She thought about how much she should tell him, and whether her information would even be useful, but shrugged and decided to just go ahead and tell him everything. He sounded young, but that didn't mean he wouldn't be able to see things from the information that she couldn't. "There's already crowds, protestors, people lining up, that sort of thing. Cops, a few people who look like they might be military or ex-military, and I saw at least one guy in the crowd with a gun in his pants. But we might have a way in. Maybe." The idea had come to her while she'd been waiting for Aurora, but she had no idea if it would work, no idea if it would be even more dangerous than facing the guards.
"Good work," complimented the young man. He got up from the bed and, tucking the phone under his ear, dragged his clothes on. His voice went a bit muffled as he slid into his t-shirt.
"What way do you think we can get in?"
As much as the whole idea was starting to seem like the stupidest thing ever to go through her head, she told him anyway. "My... mother is here. I saw her talking to some of the people lined up, she's a doctor. Probably helping them dispense the cure. She's been looking for me for months, and... well, if she saw me, she'd probably hit me with the cure as soon as she could, but if someone was to approach her with information as to my whereabouts... She might take you into an office to discuss it. It's a long shot, I know, could be completely useless, could be worse than facing the guards, if she knew you were mutants, but... it could work." Angie shrugged, though obviously the only person who could see it was Aurora.
There was something of a pause at Pyro's end.
"It's an...interesting suggestion, Nightingale, but I'm not sure that allowing yourself to run the risk of danger to your loved ones is a good step. It's gonna be fairly bloody."
Another pause.
"You understand me, don't you?"
It was her turn to pause. There was something that Angie had to make perfectly clear to Pyro, and she considered carefully the best way to say it.
"I said my mother, not a loved one."
Thousands of miles away on a remote island in the middle of the Indian Ocean, John Allerdyce smiled a slow, but easy smile.
"Understood," he said. "What else you got for me?"
He padded barefoot down the corridor to his office. "Are there definitely stocks of the Cure there? Have you seen them with your own eyes?"
Unconciously, Angie shook her head in response. "No, I haven't seen them. Aurora didn't mention seeing them either, but she said there's quite a few big trucks, unmarked, out the back. Could be bringing things in, could be taking things out. Maybe the cure. Maybe it was never there." She felt like she'd done something wrong, and needed to explain. "We couldn't get in - there's too many guards, and cameras on all the doors. Doesn't look like they can get anything big out now, though, because there's too many people in the streets already. So if there are stockpiles, they're there to stay." There was something else Aurora had asked about... "Oh, you wanted to know about cure weapons, too, right? I saw some unusual guns, not the normal looking ones that you see in the movies, but I don't know what they fire. Didn't think just waltzing over and asking would have worked, sorry." The young Australian frowned, wishing not for the first time that her mutation was more... useful.
"I suspect they won't be bringing Cure weapons, but you can never be too sure."
John slid into his customary place in front of his computer and switched the monitor on. "We need to know roughly what level of stock they've got, what we're dealing with in terms of quantity. Can you be a journalist, maybe? Go and ask the question as harmlessly as you can? You know the sort of thing 'how many people do you hope to be able to treat'? A simple, non-leading ques...ow."
The last came as he caught his finger on the sharp edge of the desk and opened a cut. He sucked at it in irritation.
"Gonna look a bit of an idiot if I bring my guys all the way up there for nothing."
"Um... yeah, I can try. Aurora can probably help - she can effect emotions, did you know that? Should be able to get someone to talk without too much suspicion." She paused, wondering what the 'ow' was for. "Are you ok?"
"Just clumsy. I'll live."
There was definitely a smile in his voice.
"Where are you from, Nightingale?"
"I'll fix it when you get here." The nonchalant words were the first time she'd made any allusion to her mutation, though the codename had to be a clue. "And I'm from Sydney, originally, but moved to Brisbane when I was almost fifteen. In Australia." She clarified, because not many people in this part of the world knew much about Australian geography, or even where Australia was. She'd been asked if she was from England, New Zealand, and even Canada over the past few months.
"Coincidence. I was born in Sydney. My folks brought us over here when I was about three, though."
It was an odd moment. He'd gone, without a blink, from being coolly professional to personal chit-chat.
You could hear her smile in her voice. "Seriously? I'd have never picked you as an Aussie - I guess you wouldn't remember much of Sydney if you left so young, though."
"Don't remember a thing. Guess my family are all still out there though."
He tapped on the computer keyboard, which she could hear at the other end of the phone. "Call me in a couple of hours with another update. If we're gonna do this thing, we're gonna have to be leaving in the next twenty-four hours to get there when I want us to be there."
She wanted to tell him to visit one day, even offer to show him around, but they were back to business before she could. Angie could hear him typing as he gave her instructions, and she wondered where he was. "Will do. I'll get back down there and see what I can find out for you. It's getting dark, here, so I'll get onto it straight away. We'll be seeing you pretty soon then? Aurora thought a couple of days from when you last called, our time." She paused, not sure how to end the conversation. "Need anything else while I'm at it?"
"Peace of mind," he said.
It was a cheerful, throw-away comment, but there was a hint of hopefulness behind it.
Angie laughed softly. She didn't really know what to say. "I'll look in the hardware section." She couldn't imagine the pressure he was under, if he was who she thought. The idea of speaking to the leader of the Brotherhood the way she had been was a little scary, especially when he had a name like Pyro. No use dwelling on it, though, she couldn't change what she'd said. "I'll give you a call when I've got more to tell, hopefully some of that will be a help."
"Thank you," he said, and there was genuine warmth in his voice. "Good work, both of you."
He disconnected the phone and sat at the desk, staring at the screen for a while. He was starting to get a Bad Feeling about this whole business. Maybe they should put it back...
Where was the courage of his convictions?
He looked down at his bleeding finger and scowled at it. For such a straight-up, street wise young man, he was an almost devout believer in omens and premonitions.
And this didn't bode well.
"See you later." The phone disconnected as she said the words, and Angie looked up at Aurora with a smile. "We've got work to do." And looking at the length of the conversation, she needed to go back to the convenience store for some more credit, while she was at it.
Leaving her backpack where it was, she closed her eyes and held onto Aurora for the not-particularly-fun trip back down to the street.
John was dragged from a fairly restive sleep by the sound of his cellphone ringing. Not for John Allerdyce the cheesiness of a tune for a ringtone. He'd set it to sound like a phone. The very thought of using a dinky little tune set his teeth on edge.
At first, he tried to reach over to turn the alarm off, but that obviously had no effect and the phone continued to ring.
Sitting up, blinking in the early dawn light, John reached for the phone and flipped it open.
"What?" he said, curtly, tired and grumpy.
The one word answer wasn't enough to know if she'd called the same guy who'd recorded the voicemail, and she didn't want to risk her safety - and Aurora's, and the Brotherhood's - by saying something stupid to the wrong person. Pausing for a moment, Angie chose her words carefully. "My name is Angie. I was told to call this number by a friend, who I believe you were speaking to earlier." That should be enough to discern if it was the right person or not - if the guy asked what the hell she was on about, she'd apologise for the wrong number and ask Aurora for her phone again.
"Angie?"
The name meant nothing to Pyro and he stared at the phone suspiciously. "I don't know an Angie. Listen, lady, you sure you have the right number? You just woke me up and I'm not in any mood to buy double glazing."
The voice was very definitely the same as the voicemail: a male voice, obviously quite young.
Well, he'd given her the wrong answer, but the voice was right this time. And sounded kinda pissed, so she dropped all attempts at being careful.
"Nightingale ring a bell? I'm looking for Pyro."
There was a silence.
"OK, you have my attention. I'm Pyro."
John sat up in the bed and swung his legs round, sitting on the edge and rubbing at his tired eyes. "Nightingale, huh? Friend of Aurora. Give me the lowdown on Baltimore."
"That's the one." She paused for a moment, wondering where to start. "We've checked out the building, security is pretty tight. Aurora said that there's no entrances without guards, and most of the bigger hallways have guards in there too, but she thinks that there should be more for something so important." She thought about how much she should tell him, and whether her information would even be useful, but shrugged and decided to just go ahead and tell him everything. He sounded young, but that didn't mean he wouldn't be able to see things from the information that she couldn't. "There's already crowds, protestors, people lining up, that sort of thing. Cops, a few people who look like they might be military or ex-military, and I saw at least one guy in the crowd with a gun in his pants. But we might have a way in. Maybe." The idea had come to her while she'd been waiting for Aurora, but she had no idea if it would work, no idea if it would be even more dangerous than facing the guards.
"Good work," complimented the young man. He got up from the bed and, tucking the phone under his ear, dragged his clothes on. His voice went a bit muffled as he slid into his t-shirt.
"What way do you think we can get in?"
As much as the whole idea was starting to seem like the stupidest thing ever to go through her head, she told him anyway. "My... mother is here. I saw her talking to some of the people lined up, she's a doctor. Probably helping them dispense the cure. She's been looking for me for months, and... well, if she saw me, she'd probably hit me with the cure as soon as she could, but if someone was to approach her with information as to my whereabouts... She might take you into an office to discuss it. It's a long shot, I know, could be completely useless, could be worse than facing the guards, if she knew you were mutants, but... it could work." Angie shrugged, though obviously the only person who could see it was Aurora.
There was something of a pause at Pyro's end.
"It's an...interesting suggestion, Nightingale, but I'm not sure that allowing yourself to run the risk of danger to your loved ones is a good step. It's gonna be fairly bloody."
Another pause.
"You understand me, don't you?"
It was her turn to pause. There was something that Angie had to make perfectly clear to Pyro, and she considered carefully the best way to say it.
"I said my mother, not a loved one."
Thousands of miles away on a remote island in the middle of the Indian Ocean, John Allerdyce smiled a slow, but easy smile.
"Understood," he said. "What else you got for me?"
He padded barefoot down the corridor to his office. "Are there definitely stocks of the Cure there? Have you seen them with your own eyes?"
Unconciously, Angie shook her head in response. "No, I haven't seen them. Aurora didn't mention seeing them either, but she said there's quite a few big trucks, unmarked, out the back. Could be bringing things in, could be taking things out. Maybe the cure. Maybe it was never there." She felt like she'd done something wrong, and needed to explain. "We couldn't get in - there's too many guards, and cameras on all the doors. Doesn't look like they can get anything big out now, though, because there's too many people in the streets already. So if there are stockpiles, they're there to stay." There was something else Aurora had asked about... "Oh, you wanted to know about cure weapons, too, right? I saw some unusual guns, not the normal looking ones that you see in the movies, but I don't know what they fire. Didn't think just waltzing over and asking would have worked, sorry." The young Australian frowned, wishing not for the first time that her mutation was more... useful.
"I suspect they won't be bringing Cure weapons, but you can never be too sure."
John slid into his customary place in front of his computer and switched the monitor on. "We need to know roughly what level of stock they've got, what we're dealing with in terms of quantity. Can you be a journalist, maybe? Go and ask the question as harmlessly as you can? You know the sort of thing 'how many people do you hope to be able to treat'? A simple, non-leading ques...ow."
The last came as he caught his finger on the sharp edge of the desk and opened a cut. He sucked at it in irritation.
"Gonna look a bit of an idiot if I bring my guys all the way up there for nothing."
"Um... yeah, I can try. Aurora can probably help - she can effect emotions, did you know that? Should be able to get someone to talk without too much suspicion." She paused, wondering what the 'ow' was for. "Are you ok?"
"Just clumsy. I'll live."
There was definitely a smile in his voice.
"Where are you from, Nightingale?"
"I'll fix it when you get here." The nonchalant words were the first time she'd made any allusion to her mutation, though the codename had to be a clue. "And I'm from Sydney, originally, but moved to Brisbane when I was almost fifteen. In Australia." She clarified, because not many people in this part of the world knew much about Australian geography, or even where Australia was. She'd been asked if she was from England, New Zealand, and even Canada over the past few months.
"Coincidence. I was born in Sydney. My folks brought us over here when I was about three, though."
It was an odd moment. He'd gone, without a blink, from being coolly professional to personal chit-chat.
You could hear her smile in her voice. "Seriously? I'd have never picked you as an Aussie - I guess you wouldn't remember much of Sydney if you left so young, though."
"Don't remember a thing. Guess my family are all still out there though."
He tapped on the computer keyboard, which she could hear at the other end of the phone. "Call me in a couple of hours with another update. If we're gonna do this thing, we're gonna have to be leaving in the next twenty-four hours to get there when I want us to be there."
She wanted to tell him to visit one day, even offer to show him around, but they were back to business before she could. Angie could hear him typing as he gave her instructions, and she wondered where he was. "Will do. I'll get back down there and see what I can find out for you. It's getting dark, here, so I'll get onto it straight away. We'll be seeing you pretty soon then? Aurora thought a couple of days from when you last called, our time." She paused, not sure how to end the conversation. "Need anything else while I'm at it?"
"Peace of mind," he said.
It was a cheerful, throw-away comment, but there was a hint of hopefulness behind it.
Angie laughed softly. She didn't really know what to say. "I'll look in the hardware section." She couldn't imagine the pressure he was under, if he was who she thought. The idea of speaking to the leader of the Brotherhood the way she had been was a little scary, especially when he had a name like Pyro. No use dwelling on it, though, she couldn't change what she'd said. "I'll give you a call when I've got more to tell, hopefully some of that will be a help."
"Thank you," he said, and there was genuine warmth in his voice. "Good work, both of you."
He disconnected the phone and sat at the desk, staring at the screen for a while. He was starting to get a Bad Feeling about this whole business. Maybe they should put it back...
Where was the courage of his convictions?
He looked down at his bleeding finger and scowled at it. For such a straight-up, street wise young man, he was an almost devout believer in omens and premonitions.
And this didn't bode well.
"See you later." The phone disconnected as she said the words, and Angie looked up at Aurora with a smile. "We've got work to do." And looking at the length of the conversation, she needed to go back to the convenience store for some more credit, while she was at it.
Leaving her backpack where it was, she closed her eyes and held onto Aurora for the not-particularly-fun trip back down to the street.
