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Post by elizar on Jun 17, 2009 6:21:32 GMT -5
"Look at this this way," Helen smirked. "At least he'll be forced to relax. And he's much better than expected. Granted, 'expected' is organ failure and life support, but he's even better than most."
"I'm surprised as well." Miles said as he entered the cafeteria. "What do you think? I'm still breathing, I haven't even had any coughs yet."
Christine saw Amara's unease, and had to admit that the topic was getting to her as well. "Sorry." She said and lied down as well as she could.
"All I see you is when you're working. Even babysitting me like this is part of your job schedule for now. But I have no idea what you do in your spare time, aside from taking care of your children."
"My name is Matthew Bashir." The F-15 nodded. His family line was known as powerful weather mages, thus him in his natural slate coloring was no surprise, no one really wanted any users in military service. But he lacked the indicator of a user who could alter his surroundings, but someone who could use his power within, but not in the way of shifters like the Thompson line and Crawford. "I've been called Starscream within human circles." He said, hinting at his ability.
"I have here couple of scent-tags, and I'm to oversee how they're going to be used." He said. "You need to sign this." He opened his compartment and withdrew a clipboard and couple of evidence bags.
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Post by Evangeline on Jun 17, 2009 12:52:17 GMT -5
"All right." Zoe extended a toolhead from a streamlined housing mounted under her wing. It was on the end of a robot arm that was normally stowed away inside it. A pen came out and wrote her signature down. "And thank you."
"I haven't got much outside that right now." Amara said. "The kids are the most important thing."
"Well, your family was always known for biochemical wierdness." Lionel shrugged. "Anyway, it'd give you an excuse to slow down."
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Post by elizar on Jun 17, 2009 16:19:41 GMT -5
With an apparent dismissive, the F-15 curled a bit in you-don't-get-it manner. "First time handling evidence of this level?" He asked. "I have to observe and bring them back when you've finished using them." He said.
"I can't really speak for you or other mothers." Christine made a deep sigh. "But you got to have something to do. I calculate structural integrity of buildings made out of too expensive materials, making them practically dreamworlds, but at least I'm doing something with my time."
Miles groaned and shook his head in frustration. "I got too much to do to worry about this."
"But you have to." Helen said. "You may not show any symptoms when you're actually supposed to, it doesn't mean that you are not spreading it around. For all I know, you may be patient zero." She said. She didn't know it for sure, or had looked into it better, but she had to throw the gauntlet somewhere.
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Post by Evangeline on Jun 17, 2009 21:19:58 GMT -5
Zoe raised a shade in a YES-I-GET-IT way. "This way, please." She turned and rolled an eye back to the F-15. "The article that the scent remnants are on is in storage."
"When I have a spare hour to myself, I just listen to music." Amara said. "It helps me chill out and keeps me sane. I like rhythm and blues, especially the old-time stuff."
Lionel stood back, allowing Helen to handle it for the present. Nothing in him wanted to touch this after all the trouble they'd had. He took out his PDA and started texting Picard.
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Post by elizar on Jun 17, 2009 21:54:21 GMT -5
Matthew snorted a bit due to the mutual hostility. "I'm beginning to see why there aren't that many joint operations going on between any government agency and users." He said as he followed Zoe, and made sure that he was out of sight of the others. "But still, Ursa hasn't talked yet, and people are considering giving you a shot at interrogating her."
"That's good." Christine nodded. "Perhaps I can help you find some music. I have a lot of spare time now." She chuckled.
"So now what?" Miles asked.
"House arrest." Christine said. "I'm not going to risk you move to the ranch in case it was a false positive."
"How often does that happen?" Miles asked sceptically.
"You're right." Helen sighed and picked up a key. "Room 106. It was supposed to be for Pilar, but I think it's better if you'll have it." She handed the key to him. "I'm going to have a word with your father, and some of the users. Perhaps it is related to the family's telepathy immunity."
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Post by Evangeline on Jun 17, 2009 23:44:47 GMT -5
Zoe took into account that Matthew was young and perhaps a bit too cocky, as yet, for his own good. "It's possible. What did they tell you about the state they were found in?" She found her way back to the facility where the evidence was being held. "The child's already identified them from the pictures, and I've sent confirmation."
"If you have any R & B or jazz or old-school rock, sure, I'd appreciate it." Amara nodded. "I used to collect that stuff in my single days."
Lionel lifted his eyes to the ceiling and rocked on his heels as he flexed his fingers. "When it rains, it pours. Ain't that the truth. Anyway, I just told Picard and the others."
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Post by elizar on Jun 18, 2009 8:18:15 GMT -5
"It was a sorry state." Matthew shook his head. "Someone had already begun fighting Harold, and the agent chasing the two had his tires full with apprehending them. Ursa was not injured, but apparently took a oath of silence. Even when she's trying to get some methanol."
"I do have one Gatherers album." Christine said. "It's Zero Chance, I can send it to you if you don't have it." She brought up the terminal interface and began searching for the tracks.
Miles sighed. "Thanks Lionel." He said. "At least I do have my mouthmask on."
"I'll come by later to draw some more blood for testing." Helen said.
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Post by Evangeline on Jun 18, 2009 16:29:25 GMT -5
"Well, that confirms some other things Kam told us." Zoe frowned a bit. "So where were they finally apprehended?" She stopped at the door of the locker facility and presented her ID to the guard on duty.
"Oh, I'd love that." Amara nodded. "And thanks a bunch."
"Picard pretty much said the same thing I did." Lionel laughed. "And he heard that the people who had Kam were apprehended, through various back channels. Neither of them are talking."
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Post by elizar on Jun 18, 2009 16:37:15 GMT -5
"Well, the unknown assailant and Ursa were apprehended. Harold buggered out." Matthew said and presented his own CIA ID as well, though it didn't have much foothold as Zoe's personell ID. But it was enough to show that he was on a business, and followed Zoe.
While he had clearly shown his ID, any toolboxes were not found on him at all to make a way for a controlled arm, while there was something like one he used when holding up the ID.
"No problem." Christine said. "Anything to help you get your mind 'reset', so to speak." She chuckled. "You need to unwind. Perhaps we should trade places, all I do here is unwind."
Miles chuckled. "Now then, do you have no work to do other than to listen to some gossip?" He asked with a smile.
"Thanks for the information." Helen said. "At least it gives us a solid confirmation that no other satellites will go out soon."
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Post by Evangeline on Jun 18, 2009 18:08:13 GMT -5
Zoe shrugged. "Very well." An attendant went and fetched the article for them. It was bagged with an evidence form. "Let's go over to the examination hangar."
"Thanks for the thought." Amara smiled. "I could really use a break with all the crazy that's been going on here lately."
"Picard also said that some F-15 guy came in to talk to Zoe about something." Lionel put the PDA away. "Seemed a little full of himself."
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Post by elizar on Jun 18, 2009 18:37:35 GMT -5
Matthew silently followed Zoe, appearing more of a duty than curiosity. Then he noticed the contents of the other evidence bag. "A plushie." He smirked. "Pretty much invaluable in our investigations, while humans were so quick to dismiss it."
"Well, you going to humanverse may be the break you need." Christine said. "Take it. You need it. Doesn't matter if your ex is around, it is easy enough to go far away from the base he's stationed."
"Any idea what he may be here for?" Helen asked while Miles made his greetings and headed to iso.
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Post by Evangeline on Jun 18, 2009 19:56:03 GMT -5
"Fabric and stuffing absorb and retain scents better then anything, even if not in direct contact. Check out the clothes of a human who regularly smokes sometime." Zoe grinned mirthlessly.
The plushie was laid out on a low table before them, and Zoe took a whiff of the proferred scent tags and then another of the plushie. She had been certifiably scent-trained some years before by the Colorado air guard. "The first tag definitely agrees, and there is also some strong methanol scent there."
"And that'll leave you with Terrell or Zoe." Amara said. "But Terrell's a pretty good guy. Lewis will be around also, but he won't come around when you're alone, only with company. A bit too uncomfortable otherwise."
"I heard he was bringing scent samples for comparison to what they have on the kid's toy." Lionel said. "People do tend to overlook playthings, but it was all that Kam had with him."
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Post by elizar on Jun 18, 2009 20:27:34 GMT -5
"So whoever that was chasing after them was not in contact with Kam, or at least his scent is not on the plushie." Matthew said as inspecting the mock shuttle plushie. While he hadn't gotten his scent certs yet, he took a whiff of the plushie. And then a section of his wing started to bluckle a bit, until a tendril had formed out of it and extended. It formed into a human-like hand, which took up the scent tag with Ursa's scent. He held it out in front of him and took a whiff.
"Good thing you noticed the plush in time." He said, as if what he had done was as normal as breakfast. "Scent's getting weaker."
Christine looked hurt for a moment. She could understand why Lewis didn't want to be caught alone with her. While most of those they worked around with could simply smell hanky-panky, they worked with a number of humans who simply didn't have the nose for it.
"I can see why." She said. Though this is the first time I've heard this. She thought to herself.
"A toy?" Helen asked. "Is that admissible in court?"
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Post by Evangeline on Jun 19, 2009 19:54:06 GMT -5
"But still evident." Zoe said, not showing any particular reaction to Matthew's demonstration of his talent. She'd already known about him through the various user circles. "So is there anything else on your "guests"?
"Kinda difficult when you're dealing with folks who have no way to tell if anything actually happened or not." Amara nodded. "Humans have only conjecture to go on, and they tend to jump to the "worse" conclusion, like most cars."
"It's a soft toy, and fabric keeps scent for a long time." Lionel looked out the window. "And Zoe is certified."
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Post by elizar on Jun 19, 2009 20:03:51 GMT -5
Matthew morphed the part of his wing back to normal. "Ursa is a pure mod." He said. "No modification of any kind, even her white paint job is her natural, not fading gray or albino. There are not mutt indicators in her at all, so either she's one of the few mixes that don't have any, or she's a previous unknown electric car." He looked at Zoe. "I was told you may have some idea of what model she is, and how it could look like in the future. Not quite direct quote, but it was something about your family's hobbies, or rather meddling."
"I've seen that one." Christine said. She had once had to break up a spat between couple who were engaged by tell the husband-to-be that the wife-to-be had not been with a mutual male friend in bed. She had made it a bit too convincing with her teeth displaying.
"And I guess that neither user authority or CIA are claiming total dominance over the matter." Helen said. "I guess there's too much politics going on before going into territorial disputes that could poison any other future co-operations."
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