(( OOC: This thread is planned with Abyss, but open to Syn, Vibe, and anyone else who knows "Teresa's" real deal. Abyss, this is the thread I PMed you about.))

As she passes the fifth security checkpoint in a row, it occurs to Sonya that it's a good thing she's not trying to sneak into the Labs under false pretenses. Even as it is, with her arrival planned for by Syn and entirely official, she's been subjected to more scans, tests, challenges and evaluations than a prison guard... and, given her recent infiltration of the Camps, she ought to know. The security guards glare at her like they can see right through "Teresa's" body and into her bared soul, and she does her best to simultaneously seem harmless and purposeful.

All of which leads her to this final checkpoint, and an astonishingly competant-looking receptionist. "What can I do for you?"

"Oh... um, I'm here to make a delivery," she replies out of habit. "I'm Teresa, I have an appointment with, um, Abyss?" It still feels strange to use made-up names like that to refer to people, but nobody seems to bat an eye at it.

"OK, ma'am... right through those doors and wait, please." Sonya nods at the receptionist and follows instructions, finding herself in a well-appointed conference room. She cheers silently at the coffee-maker sitting on the back counter and pours herself a cup, careful to keep her eye on the package she's delivering.

The nice thing about Abyss is that he's impossible not to notice, even from a distance. Sonya spots him entering the lobby and waves, moving towards him quickly.

"Hey... nice setup you got here. I guess, after what went down at Sanctuary, the Resistance decided to go for more pumped up security?" Catching up to the red giant, she extends a hand in greeting and does her best to seem nonchalant about his appearance.

"You would be Abyss, I'm assuming. I'm Teresa... new recruit, first time inside. I've got a package I'm supposed to deliver to you?" She holds out the package in her free hand.

> "We have met before, I guess I just don't have a memorable face. You are the healer?"

Sonya doesn't even blink at the flood of genetic information she gets from Abyss' hand... she's used to that by now, and there's nothing too surprising about it. Yes, he's a mutant... but she sorta knew that. She's a little startled by the gentleness of his grip, though, and even more so by his comment. They had met before, granted, but she'd been a steroid-pumped man at the time.

Had Abyss somehow met the real Teresa? Sonya doesn't think so, and she's beginning to rely on her sense of what Teresa knows and doesn't know. So perhaps this is his way of telling her she knew her real identity.

So the question is, did Syn tell him? Or did he find out on his own? If the former, that suggests Syn and Abyss work together reasonably closely, which is good to know. If the latter, that suggests more complicated things... although, why would he let her know he knew, if so? Maybe he doesn't know for sure, and is just trying to get me to confirm his guess? For the twelfth time since lunch (not that she's counting), Sonya asks herself why she's getting herself involved in this crazy mutant-liberation thing... she still has no idea what she's doing, and she seems to be digging herself in deeper and deeper.

On the other hand, it's not like she can back out now, so she decides to run with it. Reaching up to pat Abyss' face, she grins. "Nah, it's a very distinctive face, it's just so high up I never notice it! At least without getting a serious crick in my neck. And I can't go around staring at everyone's chest, people will talk." She's not sure if he'll get the reference to Sonny's fascination with Syn's body or not, but it's the first thing that occurs to her. Even if he doesn't, she figures it might throw him off-balance, which isn't a bad thing under the circumstances. She gives him a quick wink before adding "And, yes, I'm the healer. Or at least a healer. Please don't make me demonstrate it... the laundry bills add up, you know?"

> “Come on in let me show you around. So are the streets still looking as bad as they were? Or worse? You hungry, thirsty, tired, anything you need?"

The question seems utterly sincere, which surprises Sonya all over again. She'd pretty much accepted that, appearances notwithstanding, Abyss was not about to rampage his way through New York yelling "Hulk Smash!" over and over, but she's slowly concluding that he's actually a genuinely nice guy.

"I'm off the streets, actually." OK, so he doesn't know everything... "Apartment-sitting for one of your local kids and his pet tiger... and picking up some spare cash running errands for the boss." She's not entirely sure if she should admit to working for Syn in public, but it's not like she's keeping it a secret. "I have an easier time moving around out there than, well, some folks." She looks pointedly at Abyss' tail as she mentions it. "You know?"

"Still, I wouldn't turn down a drink, if you're offering. Especially if there's somewhere private to drink it..." She wonders whether Abyss will take this as a come-on or as a request for somewhere to talk free of surveillance... and the truth is, both thoughts are a little frightening.

Sonya pulls her hand back abruptly when he flinches away from her and mumbles a vague apology, then laughs outright at his endearingly poetic discourse on stargazing and chestgazing.

He's a Seinfeld fan? I... wasn't expecting that. Which, she realizes, was entirely her own failing. She's getting more and more accustomed to meeting mutants, even those with obvious physical abnormalities like Abyss and Ian and Sara, but she clearly has a ways to go before eliminating her own prejudices... otherwise, she wouldn't be so surprised when he turned out to be just a regular guy, happy-tail and all. Well, best way to get over it is to just act like he's a regular guy, I guess.

Though admittedly, she can't quite conceal her fascination with his tail.

> “A drink it is, though this place is pretty crowded we might have to
> search a bit for a place that suits your request. And private is quite
> relative around here I have a feeling our gracious host doesn’t trust
> what he doesn’t see."

"Yeah, I've sorta gotten that impression myself... though the truth is nobody seems to talk much about our 'host'. That's Hunter, right? Some kind of Polish-sounding last name, I don't remember it. Mostly he sounds like a good guy to avoid, y'know?" She indicates the cameras with a subtle glance, hoping Abyss will interpret that correctly as a request for somewhere free of surveillance where they can talk more freely.

> "So drinks first and then talk, I know a place that is
> quite a bit more discreet, you'd have to trust me though."

Sonya shrugs and follows. "Seems like everybody's gotta trust somebody, these days, and you're far from being the craziest guy I've met lately." And she has to admit, it would be nice to have a conversation with someone in her new place of employment where she didn't have to worry about being eavesdropped on.

She notices the way he keeps glancing down at little colored dots... some kind of coded messages? directional signals? She's not entirely sure, and adds it to her list of questions to ask in privacy.

> "You can get what ever you like here and its on the house as far as I know."

"Just some orange juice for now," she decides, making her way to the bar and placing an order accordingly. Abyss does not seem like someone she could effectively match in a drinking contest, given that he outmasses her by a factor of a zillion, so it's best not to start.

Sonya startles as the void opens to her left, almost spilling her juice. "Wow... you're just full of surprises, aren't you?"

> " once we are finished chatting, you may step in
> here and we will have full privacy. I will explain some
> of the more delicate details to you once you are in,
> if you like."

Sonya's initial response is confusion... step into where? All she sees is a paper-thin black circle floating in mid-air.

Don't be stupid... it's a portal, like in Stargate! We walk in, it takes us somewhere else. Not that Sonya has ever actually watched the show -- she was never much of a fan of science fiction or fantasy, which in retrospect is pretty ironic now that her life has suddenly turned into something out of a Sci-Fi Channel Original Presentation -- but she understands the basic idea: a wormhole through space and multiple dimensions, or something like that.

Which promply elicits a second response: caution. Or, less flatteringly, fear. After all, who knows where the portal might lead her? Right. It might take you to a secret facility run and operated by dangerous mutants who could kill you and hide your body without anyone being the wiser! No, wait, that's where you are now.

She chuckles at the thought. It's not quite as simple as that, but the underlying question is the same one she started the delivery with: does she trust this guy? And the answer hasn't changed: not really, but she's got to trust someone, and he's far from being the worst candidate... and no amount of pussyfooting around is going to change that. If this is some weird kind of trap, at least she'll know.

So she stands up, drains her juice, puts the glass down. "Why wait?" Before she can slow herself down by answering her own question, she steps into the portal with every appearance of confidence.

Hearing some of Hunter's gaurds talk about a man that could only be described as her brother. They go on to mention the behemoth had cleared the way for himself and a female he was walking with. Hearing this Syn approached the group of men. "What did this female look like and where did you see them?"

The guards turn to look at who was speaking to them. The figure in front of them matches that of someone Hunter seems to have warned all his personnel about. They almost take a step back. Seeing this Syn smiles but she wants information right now. Play time would have to wait...for now. "What did the woman look like and where did you see them?"

One of the men finally speaks up. The woman he describes sounds alot like teresa. "They were going to the canteen last we saw." The man spoke with some distrust in his voice, but Syn simply smiled back. "Thank you boys. See you around sometime."

Upon entering the canteen the girl spotted her brother with an open portal. She acknowledged him without a word and proceeded to enter the void. Hopefully Abyss had already convinced Teresa to enter as well.

(( OOC: The package is a complete McGuffin, make up whatever you like for it ))

When she entered the portal, Sonya had expected to step through into some other location, like the guys from Stargate... maybe a heavily shielded room, maybe some spot on the other side of the planet, who knows, really, but somewhere.

So when she finds herself adrift in a dark void, her first assumption is that something went horribly wrong. This assumption is confirmed when she looks around and realizes she is not (or at least, not quite) alone. Facing her, from some oddly unspecifiable distance away, is... well... herself.

Or, no, not quite that either. What's facing her is one of the bodies she's become used to seeing in the mirror, but it's not really her. It's Teresa.

"So what does that make me?" She hadn't intended to speak out loud, but she can tell -- she's not sure how -- that the thought had been broadcast. When she looks down at her own body, it's also familiar... the same body Sonya has worn for the last several years, though with all her recent shifting it gets harder and harder for her to think of it as hers.

"It makes you you, of course," replies Teresa. Not a very helpful response, but certainly accurate. And now that Sonya looks Teresa over more carefully, she realizes that her body isn't entirely 'there'... it's more like a ghost, or some kind of hologram. Like it's not a real mind. "Which it isn't, of course. It's just a copy," she thinks out loud.

Which leaves her wondering why the other people she's copied aren't also present... Doug and "Sonny" and the whole crowd. Maybe it has something to do with how much time she's spent in Teresa's body, compared to the rest of them? She isn't sure.

Throughout all of this, she's vaguely aware of Abyss' voice offering explanations, but she's not really paying that much attention. When yet another body appears in the Void -- apparently a real one -- her attention is focused.

"Hi, Syn. We keep meeting in the strangest places, don't we?"

She's vaguely aware of Teresa nodding agreement.

Seeing a ghostly Teresa along with Sonya made Syn wonder about the void. It was only her second time within the space but it didn't cease to amaze her. She was glad it was safe here with Sonya's identity being rather exposed.

Sonya addressed Syn and the girl wondered if she caught a bit of uneasyness in Sonya's voice. Maybe it was the fact of being in the void. That would be a very good reason for her tone. Perhaps she had some not so pleasant news to relay to Syn. Hopefully it was the being in the void bit.

"So far that would seem to be the case. I'm pleased to see you were able to get here. Do you have any new information?" Syn was right to business as she had lots of things going on in her mind, but she wanted any updates from Sonya.

> "So far that would seem to be the case. I'm pleased to see you were
> able to get here. Do you have any new information?"

Sonya thinks about it, trying to remember if there's anything she hasn't already reported in.

"Hm. Told you about the situation with Rupert Kelly, and about Ian and Naveed. You already know about Shade. I infiltrated the Camps, you know about that, but not really getting anywhere there so far -- nobody trusts Doug yet. By the way, my cover is that Doug is being mindcontrolled into compliance, in case anybody asks... I really want to keep the number of people who know my real abilities to a minimum. Haven't gotten my hands on the inmate database yet, but me and Shade are working on it."

After a second's thought she adds "Oh... did I mention the flower-children? Two mutants, twins, really touchy. Tried to recruit them, but they weren't having any of it. They run a florist's shop near Central Park. Also dope dealers. Don't know if you have any use for that, but if you do... well, just don't mention me, is all. They didn't like me much."

Teresa smirks and adds "Yeah. Can't imagine why, you being such a paragon of virtue."

Sonya decides at that moment that Teresa, whatever her other virtues may be, is altogether too much of a wise-ass. "Takes one to know one," Teresa shoots back.

"You know something? This whole 'welcome to my nightmare' telepathic schtick gets real old, real fast. Moving on... so, what's going on with the Resistance? Kelly and Naveed and folks are getting pretty antsy out there, and the folks in the Camps are looking pretty bad. Are you going to do anything about it?"

Sonya spat forth what she remembered already telling Syn as well as new little details. One such detail being her form in the camps. Apparently that form was named Doug, but she wasn't getting far with him in the camp. Also, not having the mutant database made the girl a little displeased but she was reassured that attempts were being made. So, she would give her new spy the benefit of the doubt and allow her to keep trying. She didn't know about another set of mutant twins though.

"They run a flower shop and they are drug sellers? Did you happen to see what their mutations were? I'm not interested in the drug portion but the flower shop could potentially be used as a front for other things." Anyone looking at Syn could tell she had the gears in her head rolling with ideas.

Then things got a little strange as Teresa and Sonya had a bit of a childish verbal exchange. This was followed by her brother inquiring about the package Sonya had brought with her. Syn pondered playing the 'I'm the boss and you don't need to know' role but she wasn't sure how he'd take that and she didn't want to be stuckin the void forever. "I had her bring it because if she were to have shown up and stated she had a package for you or I then I'm sure Hunters men would've been suspicious if she wasn't actually carrying something. Props aren't just for television and movies ya know."

> "Did you happen to see what their mutations were?"

Sonya shrugs. "One of them had some kind of plant-affinity, I think... he made a little rose seedling grow superfast, and when he got mad all the plants in the shop kinda freaked out. Guess that helps with the whole pot-growing thing. Piece of advice: don't mention force-growing plants, though... I think that's what they're doing, but mentioning it freaks them out. Not sure what the other one does. Or maybe they both have the same power... don't know how that works for mutant twins."

She thinks about it for a second and adds "Maybe you know, though -- how does that work with Amp and Vibe? I know they're twins; do they have the same power?"

She rolls her eyes at Syn's explanation of the meaningless package. "So, what, this whole thing was just to get me in here? Well, OK... you've got me -- or, I guess, us -- where you want me. Now what?"

It doesn't escape her notice that Syn hasn't answered her question about the Resistance's plans, or about what the Order, specifically, intends to accomplish. Neither does it surprise her much. "Incidentally, this might be a good time to let me know who my new teammates are... especially if any of them are in the camps. I know about Amp; anyone else I should keep an eye out for?"

The images Syn was projecting in her mind of the plant controlling boys helped confirm her decision. "Never mind about the plant boys. They don't sound like they would work out. Besides, in my opinion plants are too easily defeated."

Sonya seemed a little annoyed about how she was lured to the labs, but Syn had to make sure she arrived so they could talk face to face again. She also had another reason for bringing Sonya tot he labs. "Now that you're here I want you to find out as much about Hunter as possible. He seems to know alot about everyone and everything else, but not much is known about him and I want to change that. More specifically I want to know where his weakness lies. Should our little alliance with him fall through I need to know how to deal with him. In regards to the resistance. Right now Hunter has placed Kaz in charge of organizing everyone. At the moment they are working on team work skills so that everyone does their part when the attack on the camp occurs. Believe me I want to act faster but it's better for us to use his reseources than espend our own. He has claimed to have some of his people placed in positions within the camp so that he has info on the inside. I'm not sure who they are or how many people he has there so becareful if you go back."

Taking a bit of a break she finished her thoughts on the previous subject before going into the next one. "Those who are on our side are the twins Amp and Vibe, my brother Abyss, two girls who have darkness powers names Overcast and Omen, Isabel is another. I'm not sure if she was taken to the camp or not. She didn't get out of Sanctuary when we did. Then there is Shade and Ash who you seem to have run into already. Though they aren't official members yet. They need to prove themselves. Also, I've spoken with a man named Kami who is here in the labs. One more who I'm still unsure about is named Horus. The problem with him is that he seems to have two personalities within him. The one I first me went by the name of Horus like the Egyptian god. Then the same man introduced himself as Mandain here in the labs. So, I'm not sure if he will be a member or not." Syn thought for a moment hoping she didn't forget anyone. "I belive that's everyone thus far.

> "find out as much about Hunter as possible. He seems to know alot about
> everyone and everything else, but not much is known about him and I want
> to change that. More specifically I want to know where his weakness lies."

Sonya nods slowly... she has a lot of questions, but isn't quite sure how to formulate them yet, so she just listens for a while as Syn explains what the Resistance is up to.

> "He has claimed to have some of his people placed in positions within the
> camp so that he has info on the inside. I'm not sure who they are or how
> many people he has there so be careful if you go back."

She nods again, still just taking everything in. In some ways it's a relief -- if the Resistance already has agents in place in the Camps, then her own relative ineffectualness in making contact with the inmates is less of a problem -- but she also finds the sudden awareness of her redundancy somewhat annoying.

> "Those who are on our side are the twins Amp and Vibe, my brother Abyss,
> two girls who have darkness powers names Overcast and Omen, Isabel is another.
> I'm not sure if she was taken to the camp or not."

"Yeah, Isabel was taken in. Haven't seen her inside the Camps yet, but I saw her being processed the day of the raid. She took a few police down in the process, though."

> "The three I would keep an eye out for are Isabel, Werecat and Amp."

She nods again, out of habit. "I've seen Sara in the Camps... she's not in great shape, truth to tell, but she's got some friends who are keeping an eye on her as best they can. I'll keep an eye out for the others too."

> "Also, I've spoken with a man named Kami who is here in the labs.
> One more who I'm still unsure about is named Horus. The problem
> with him is that he seems to have two personalities within him."

Sonya doesn't even need the local telepathy-in-the-air thing to read Teresa's response to that one. "Yeah. Lot of that going around. Calley has a touch of the schizo, too... I've been staying in his apartment for a while now, it's been interesting. Actually, at first I thought he was one of yours, given how comfortable he seemed at the Sanctuary, but I guess not... what's his story, anyway?"

Once Syn finishes her actually quite useful rundown on the Order members -- made surprisingly more so by the strange properties of this strange space, which allowed images and impressions to be broadcast as well as simple language -- Sonya returns to her earlier thoughts.

"So, you want me to investigate this Hunter guy? OK, I can do that. It would help if you can tell me what you already know, so I don't waste time repeating it. You say "his weakness" as though he hasn't got many... what can he do?"

Sonya nods. "OK. Super-fighter, charismatic, connected. Got it. So, I'm gonna have to keep a low profile as I check him out.. which means this is gonna take a while."

She thinks about it some more, trying to figure out how to even get started, and adds "Who do we know works for him, besides Kaz? Maybe more important, who do we know works _against_ him? Being able to coordinate efforts with somebody would come in handy."

Another thought occurs to her. "Has anybody ever tried zapping his mind? He might go down fast in front of someone like Naveed -- you remember, Syn, the mind-controller guy I phoned you about from Kelly's apartment, his girlfriend's brother. He's a complete nutjob, way too volatile to trust if you ask me, but that mind-control trick of his is worth something."

> " as for the twin boys, I'd like to give them a second chance if its all the same to you."

Sonya shrugs, assuming he's asking Syn. "They seemed friendly enough initially, they're just really touchy. Send someone diplomatic. And, like I said, you probably don't want to mention my name."