The X-men run missions and work together with the NYPD, striving to maintain a peaceful balance between humans and mutants. When it comes to a fight, they won't back down from protecting those who need their help.
Haven presents itself as a humanitarian organization for activists, leaders, and high society, yet mutants are the secret leaders working to protect and serve their kind. Behind the scenes they bring their goals into reality.
From the time when mutants became known to the world, SUPER was founded as a black-ops division of the CIA in an attempt to classify, observe, and learn more about this new and rising threat.
The Syndicate works to help bring mutantkind to the forefront of the world. They work from the shadows, a beacon of hope for mutants, but a bane to mankind. With their guiding hand, humanity will finally find extinction.
Since the existence of mutants was first revealed in the nineties, the world has become a changed place. Whether they're genetic misfits or the next stage in humanity's evolution, there's no denying their growing numbers, especially in hubs like New York City. The NYPD has a division devoted to mutant related crimes. Super-powered vigilantes help to maintain the peace. Those who style themselves as Homo Superior work to tear society apart for rebuilding in their own image.
MRO is an intermediate to advanced writing level original character, original plot X-Men RPG. We've been open and active since October of 2005. You can play as a mutant, human, or Adapted— one of the rare humans who nullify mutant powers by their very existence. Goodies, baddies, and neutrals are all welcome.
Short Term Plots:Are They Coming for You?
There have been whispers on the streets lately of a boogeyman... mutant and humans, young and old, all have been targets of trafficking.
The Fountain of Youth
A chemical serum has been released that's shaving a few years off of the population. In some cases, found to be temporary, and in others...?
MRO MOVES WITH CURRENT TIME: What month and year it is now in real life, it's the same for MRO, too.
Fuegogrande: "Fuegogrande" player of The Ranger, Ion, Rhia, and Null
Neopolitan: "Aly" player of Rebecca Grey, Stephanie Graves, Marisol Cervantes, Vanessa Bookman, Chrysanthemum Van Hart, Sabine Sang, Eupraxia
Ongoing Plots
Magic and Mystics
After the events of the 2020 Harvest Moon and the following Winter Solstice, magic has started manifesting in the MROvere! With the efforts of the Welldrinker Cult, people are being converted into Mystics, a species of people genetically disposed to be great conduits for magical energy.
The Welldrinker Cult
A shadowy group is gaining power, drawing in people who are curious, vulnerable, or malicious, and turning them into Mystics. They are recruiting people into their ranks to spread the influence of magic in the world, but for what end goal?
Are They Coming for You?
There have been whispers on the streets lately of a boogeyman... mutant and humans, young and old, all have been targets of trafficking.
Adapteds
What if the human race began to adapt to the mutant threat? What if the human race changed ever so subtly... without the x-gene.
Atlanteans
The lost city of Atlantis has been found! Refugees from this undersea mutant dystopia have started to filter in to New York as citizens and businessfolk. You may make one as a player character of run into one on the street.
Got a plot in mind?
MRO plots are player-created the Mods facilitate and organize the big ones, but we get the ideas from you. Do you have a plot in mind, and want to know whether it needs Mod approval? Check out our plot guidelines.
Akshay was still healing. After being hurtled across dimensional borders, falling hard enough to dislocate his shoulder, being pierced by a shard of glass, and then dragged back through a dimensional gateway, it tended to leave a mark. It wasn’t something that Akshay was just going to heal from overnight. That wasn’t to say that SUPER didn’t employ healers, but agents were only given a certain number of times they could use a healer in a year, government healthcare at its best. Akshay opted to not bother with too much of the healers and instead just focused on any internal injuries to ensure that he was healing.
The rest, well, it was hospital time. What Akshay didn’t know was that his leg had been pretty badly damaged at well. It was a probably that would have been identified had he stayed in the free clinic in the other universe, but he left before it could be discovered. Now Akshay was in the a special facility where he could heal, properly. Deep down, though, he knew it was BS. He came back from another dimension. He needed to be observed, to be checked out thoroughly to ensure that mutant-related plagues and germs didn’t follow him back.
Over all, he was sick and tired of this place. The same white walls, the same nurses and doctors, the same pain meds. Bruce got to visit him, from time to time, but contact was kept to a minimum to avoid foreign pathogens. It had been weeks, maybe a month since he had come back. Surely that would have quelled any fears by now. However, it wasn’t his call to make.
Finally, though, Akshay could at least leave his room. Dressed in sweatpants of dark black, sweatshirt in a hideous shade of orange (Bruce couldn’t pick colors if his life depended on it), at least he could take a stroll, well, as best he could with his injured leg.
Akshay was a bit leaner now. Government issued hospital food will do that to you, but he was nonetheless strong of body. With only a minor limp and the aid of a cane, Akshay left his room behind to wander the halls of the facility. He grumbled whenever he passed windows, eyeing his reflection. He looked like a goddamn Jack o’ Lantern in the middle of summer. How ridiculous. But Akshay paid no heed to it as he marched on, getting in his walk exercise as he passed doorway after doorway.
But there was one that immediately drew his attention.
SUPER was not a nice group. He knew that. One of things he detested was their recruiting center located in the same facility. Mutants who did not join willingly had to be coerced. The methods varied but in the end they always swapped out their civilian clothing for the suits and dark glasses. Still, not everyone too well to the process, therefore it was a good thing there was a hospital in the same location. Stopping at the door way, he peered in to see that there was only one new recruit in the room so far. His heart sank. When he had heard that Svetlana had been picked up, Akshay could hardly believe it. He f***ing told her to run, didn’t he?
But, somehow, here she was. With a sigh on his lips, and a quick glance to make sure no one was watch, Akshay fished his I.D. card from his deep pockets and tapped it against the card reader. The door audibly clicked and slid open. He limped inside, peering for the blonde he could have sworn he saw a moment ago. The second he was inside, the door slid closed and locked behind him.
”Iota?” he called out. SUPER’s usually referred to their call handles rather than their names. This was especially important with new recruits as it helped them understand that was their name now. But, still, a small part of Akshay took pity on her and followed that with, ”Svetlana?” He continued to peer to find where she had gone. Where was she?
Sveta lost track of how long she had been in that room. Weeks, probably? Sometimes they took her out to talk to her - or rather, at her. Sometimes they wanted more information about the other side of the rift, especially the mutants; sometimes they tried to get her to accept that she was an asset now, and could become an agent. Like Akshay, whom everyone around here called Stalker.
Svetlana had a slowly simmering anger for the guy. He knew what this organization did, but did not tell her. He did tell her to run... but at the time, she thought he meant getting away from the rift, rather than getting away from what - who - was on the other side. SUPER, she learned, was rounding up mutants in a government sanctioned way, which was not unheard of on her side either... but it never took, thanks to people like the X-men.
Where were this side's X-men?...
Svetlana held out. She was not going to be an asset, or an agent, or a freaking walking battery of any sort for an anti-mutant organization. Never. Again. She held out, therefore she was stuck, with no way of reaching across the rift. She even managed to get to a phone once, only to find out that no numbers she remembered connected, or they connected to the wrong place.
She spent most of her time sitting, or pacing around. They kept her bored, intentionally, as part of their psychological warfare. As if they could bore her into being a villain.
She stopped her pacing when she heard the footsteps, accompanied by another sound... a cane? Sveta stood with her back to the wall by the door. Not to escape - she already tried that, and she knew she was not going to make it down the hallway. She just did not want to sit there, waiting, when someone came for her again.
>>”Iota?... Svetlana?”
Sveta blinked.
"Akshay?..."
The anger was still there. She stepped out from her place by the door, and shoved the guy, out of pure spite.
"What! THE HELL!"
*italics are spoken in Russian* Thanks to Siren for the sig and avi!
Akshay knew that she was in here. That was part of his mutation, to always see mutants, wherever they were around him. It was hell when out in a populated mutant environment. But here, at facilities like this, it was a tad bit easier. Adapteds were always around as SUPER tended to hire them in droves in order to continue the battle against the mutant threat. Because of that, his powers could, sometimes be a bit muddled. If there was an adapted on the floor below them, or next door, that could easily hide Svetlana from him. It made it difficult on any mutants who were part of the system as well, their powers continuously in flux. But, for a long time agent like Akshay, he grew to live with it.
However, in this particular situation, it didn’t help that he couldn’t see Svetlana when he walked into the room. He chewed on his lip thoughtfully, calling out to her by her assigned call name before trying her real name in a much lower voice. SUPER was always listening and watching, whether by mutants or devices or whatever, they made sure to always know what was going on.
>> "Akshay?..."
Leaning on his cane, Akshay turned to the sound of someone speaking his name. As he did, he immediately caught sight of the Russian who had helped him after being badly injured. She pushed herself off a wall near the door, staring at him in an almost confused way. He would have apologized for not visiting sooner but before he could even get the words out, she crossed the gap between them and shoved him fairly hard.
>>"What! THE HELL!"
”Hey!” Being shoved backwards, his set his foot down funny on his bad leg and hissed. He had nearly fallen over but struggled to keep himself upright with his cane. After a few seconds and a heavy sigh to push back the pain, he finally righted himself as he looked at the woman defensively. ”Not cool to shove a guy healing from a knee injury.”
Okay, so maybe he really didn’t have a right to get angry at her for that. He was certain that he, in some small part deserved it. Svetlana was just an innocent bystander. A mutant, yes, but she had been scooped up and collected by SUPER the second they were on the other side of the rip. Though, really, he did tell the woman to run and he was more than serious when he said it. Still, this indoctrination wasn’t an easy process. He sighed, controlling his own anger as he straightened up to look at her, after a moment he grumbled at her.
”I did tell you run, didn’t I?” he said with a shake of his head. ”Now you’re f***ed.”
>>”Hey! Not cool to shove a guy healing from a knee injury.”
Svetlana glared at Akshay as he stumbled, then caught his balance on the cane. He looked worse for the wear, leaner and obviously not sure on his feet. Which meant - Sveta's mind has been cataloging information - that they either did not have a healer, or Akshay did not deserve one. Probably the latter. One more reason to keep her damn mouth shut about her own side of the rift. The last thing these a**holes deserved was to get their hands on DocProf. It did not make her any less angry at Akshay.
>>”I did tell you run, didn’t I? Now you’re f***ed.”
"Oh, am I?" Sveta let out a sarcastic little laugh, emphasized by the door sliding shut "AM I, really? Whoa, I would have never thought, after only THREE WEEKS OF BEING SHUT IN HERE AGAINST MY WILL!"
There were not many things to trow in the cell, probably for a good reason. Sveta vented her frustration by slamming a hand on the door.
"Maybe instead of telling me to run from de portal, you could have said something like 'I work for an evil agency that kidnaps mutants to use them for their powers'? Maybe a little less subtlety next time, Stalker?"
*italics are spoken in Russian* Thanks to Siren for the sig and avi!
Posted by Akshay Malik on Aug 16, 2017 11:38:35 GMT -6
Haven
Member of Haven
whitesmoke
Bisexual
Single
738
32
Sept 18, 2022 19:05:19 GMT -6
Jorge
Though it may not actually seem like it, Akshay actually did understand Svetlana’s anger. He had seen it many times before in new recruits and, to be honest, he had done it himself from time to time. He didn’t like having to haul people in (not all the time) but he did know that SUPER had done some good as well. It wasn’t a black and white scenario here. They prevented a lot of heartache and they ensure that mutants who would be used by supremacy groups were instead given a better purpose in life. Of course, for someone like Svetlana, he didn’t agree with their taking of her. But, from what he read of reports, an asset as powerful as her shouldn’t be left to her own devices.
>> "Oh, am I? AM I, really? Whoa, I would have never thought, after only THREE WEEKS OF BEING SHUT IN HERE AGAINST MY WILL!"
He didn’t say anything as Svetlana continued to swear and then gestured towards the door. Clearly she knew that she was in a bad situation with little to know chance of escape. He ground his teeth a little at the attitude that she shot his way but he wasn’t going to argue with her right yet. Really there was no point to it as she was probably just beginning to understand how hopeless her situation was. She would work for SUPER, whether she wanted to or not.
Leaning back a bit, trying to keep himself on his feet, he held out a hand defensively to her, nodding his head. ”Listen, I get it. But yelling at me isn’t going to make the situation any better. You’re here, you’re just going to have to deal with it, Svetlana.” he said. His eyes grew a bit darker as he sighed. ”They have ways of breaking you. Trust me, I’ve been used for that more often than not.”
How many times had he been sent to bring back a rogue agent? How many times had he partook in stalking, terrifying them out of their wits? How about cutting into their skin until they were willing to accept their role, only for one of the agency psychics to use that as a means of reconstructing a new memory of them willingly taking their place with SUPER? This organization had a wide variety of means to make people join and, for as stubborn as Svetlana was, they hadn’t even broken a sweat in their attempts to break her.
>> "Maybe instead of telling me to run from de portal, you could have said something like 'I work for an evil agency that kidnaps mutants to use them for their powers'? Maybe a little less subtlety next time, Stalker?"
Her hand slammed against the door. Really everything in the room was either bolted down or make of rubber and plastic. Nothing she could throw at him would hurt; at most it would just provide a momentary distraction for her to grumble. Still, he knew the appeal of glass shattering when enraged. He was just sad that wasn’t something he could provide for her.
As she began to rail against his organization, Akshay didn’t say anything and just sighed, letting her finish her rant. It wasn’t anything he hadn’t heard before but he did understand that from her perspective, it needed to be said. After she had blamed him for not warning her further, Akshay just rolled his eyes as he tilted his head towards her.
”Excuse me for not giving you the complete rundown of my work,” he said firmly. ”I’m not exactly at liberty to say things and considering I had no idea who the **** you were, I figured that ‘Run!’ should have been sufficient enough.”
He was starting to get heated too. But he sighed, closing his eyes, and trying to remember that this was a new experience for her and she had every right to be upset. At least that was what the staff therapist said. He lifted his gaze to her again.
”And SUPER isn’t exactly…evil. They’ve done a lot of good things too.” he said with a sigh. ”There was someone like you, several years ago. A mutant terrorist who could amplify the powers of another. He hooked up with some kid that could make explosions with a thought. Damn near blew up a good portion of New York. If it wasn’t for us, a lot of people would have gotten hurt.” He ground his teeth. ”That was why I joined. And, just for the record, I don’t agree with you being here either.” He sighed and shook his head before giving her another pointed look. ”And don’t make fun of my name. Better than Iota-One.”
>>”Listen, I get it. But yelling at me isn’t going to make the situation any better. You’re here, you’re just going to have to deal with it, Svetlana.”
"WELL YELLING SURE AS **** MAKES ME FEEL BETTER!"
It did. She knew she would regret it soon, and she would have a sore throat too, but at the moment, it was the only stress relief she had left.
>>”They have ways of breaking you. Trust me, I’ve been used for that more often than not.”
Sveta glared at the guy with spite. He was not only called Stalker, and worked for the evil agency, but he actually hurt people like her, trying to break them into submission. All that with the photo of a husband and a kid on his phone. What kind of a messed up monster was he?...
>>”Excuse me for not giving you the complete rundown of my work. I’m not exactly at liberty to say things and considering I had no idea who the **** you were, I figured that ‘Run!’ should have been sufficient enough.”
"I did run! It's not my fault that your a**hole boss decided to pull me across the portal!"
>>”And SUPER isn’t exactly…evil. They’ve done a lot of good things too. There was someone like you, several years ago. A mutant terrorist who could amplify the powers of another. He hooked up with some kid that could make explosions with a thought. Damn near blew up a good portion of New York. If it wasn’t for us, a lot of people would have gotten hurt. That was why I joined. And, just for the record, I don’t agree with you being here either.”
"Well gee thanks, I'm glad we are on the same page." Sveta spat. Bad things, indeed. That was always the story. Too dangerous not to control. Too dangerous to be free. As someone who had caused mass death in New York once, a long time ago, Sveta understood the danger. But not the solution. "I am not even a part of this world! I am not your problem!"
Hopefully, if there was another Sveta, she had better powers. Or none at all.
>>”And don’t make fun of my name. Better than Iota-One.”
"Muse." she frowned "The X-men called me Muse. When I was a vigilante, they called me Red Russian, which is frankly insulting, but I did wear red. Before that, when I was a mail order bride, they called me Effie. Which one do you think they will use when this blows up as an inter-dimensional diplomatic incident?"
*italics are spoken in Russian* Thanks to Siren for the sig and avi!
>>"WELL YELLING SURE AS **** MAKES ME FEEL BETTER!"
He winced, sighed, and kept his gaze locked on hers. It was clear that she wasn’t going to just lay down and accept her circumstances. He understood that, of course, but really, yelling at him wasn’t going to do any good since he didn’t have the authority to release her anyways. Unfortunately, she was just stuck in this situation and she was going to have to deal with it. Just, like, he guessed he was going to have to deal with her yelling. At least she was burning off some frustration with it all.
Still, he had to point out that he had given her a chance to get out of this mess. If she had just run the other way when he had told her to, then she couldn’t have been captured. She would actually be living it up back in her own universe. But, for whatever reason, she was now on this side and she was immediately picked up by SUPER. Great way to start off her trip to another world.
>>"I did run! It's not my fault that your a**hole boss decided to pull me across the portal!"
He clenched his jaw and sighed. He vaguely remembered seeing Nolan there. That guy definitely made Akshay uneasy. As much as he wanted to be loyal to SUPER and all the agents within, there was just something about Nolan that rubbed him the wrong way. Anyone else may have just let Svetlana go but she had gotten onto Nolan’s radar, somehow. Once he had you in his sights, it was difficult to get away. He was a stalker too, but a whole different breed of one.
Akshay wasn’t going to condone their actions, though. He was an agent, through and through, but even he had to know when to draw the line. He wasn’t one that let good deeds go unrewarded, hence the reason he told Svetlana to run. Being a mutant, he figured that SUPER would try to recruit her and he wanted to spare her that. He could have easily just dragged her across the dimensional void himself. He really was trying to spare her.
So he tried to reiterate that he didn’t agree with her being here. He actually didn’t. She had helped him and being recruited was not something he wanted for her. Still, her attitude wasn’t making it easy for him to feel any sympathy.
>>"Well gee thanks, I'm glad we are on the same page. I am not even a part of this world! I am not your problem!"
He shrugged. Limping over a chair that was in the room. Akshay slowly sat down, needing to get off his knee and not waiting for her to give approval. Sitting back, he balanced the cane across his lap as he looked to her.
”SUPER doesn’t see it like that.” he said. ”There’s no agency like ours in your world, correct?” He shook his head. ”To them, your world is just an untamed land that needs an intervention. And since when has the government not made other places business their own?”
It was true. SUPER didn’t really have jurisdiction in whatever this world was, but that wasn’t going to last for long. Eventually they were going to step in, they were going to present their agenda to the government and, depending on how the mutant situation is viewed, take action from either. Either way, SUPER was not going to let a world where mutants ran free stay that way for very long.
>>"Muse…The X-men called me Muse. When I was a vigilante, they called me Red Russian, which is frankly insulting, but I did wear red. Before that, when I was a mail order bride, they called me Effie. Which one do you think they will use when this blows up as an inter-dimensional diplomatic incident?"
Things were starting to calm, a little. It wasn’t by any means a lot, but it was enough that they could have some breathing room to let the emotions at least calm to normal levels. Akshay nodded as he took her various monikers into account. He rolled his eyes at the less than acceptable one and snorted a bit.
”Called me Slumdog Millionaire when I first showed up,” he shook his head. ”***holes.” He then sighed as he watched her, letting her question roll around in his head. He shrugged his shoulders. ”You’ll probably just go by classification and number, at first. Iota and then whatever number they feel like assigning you.” A pause. ”I’m sure a nickname will be given at some point, depending on what you do or don’t do. I’m Iota-1. But they also refer to me as Stalker…as you now know.”
Sveta had to admit, Akshay took the yelling and the tantrum fairly well. He was still hurt, she probably could have taken him, as long as his powers did not come into play; and yet he probably felt guilty just enough to put up with her tirades, and for some reason, he stayed. Had he been sent by someone? Sveta did not think so, but then again, it was hard to know whom she could trust anymore.
>>”SUPER doesn’t see it like that. There’s no agency like ours in your world, correct? To them, your world is just an untamed land that needs an intervention. And since when has the government not made other places business their own?”
"My world tried this racist s**t once. The X-men shut it down." Sveta muttered. She did not add that they were trying again, they were always trying, with robots and camps and databases. She did not need to give SUPER any more new ideas.
>>”Called me Slumdog Millionaire when I first showed up. ***holes. You’ll probably just go by classification and number, at first. Iota and then whatever number they feel like assigning you. I’m sure a nickname will be given at some point, depending on what you do or don’t do. I’m Iota-1. But they also refer to me as Stalker…as you now know.”
"Well, I sure as hell am not gonna answer to a f*** number." Sveta sneered "That's some prison camp bullsh*t right there. And your sense of self-esteem is shot if you think Stalker is a good name to go by. Creep." now she was just annoyed at him in general, and it showed, and she did not care that it showed. She paused for a few moments, not sure what to do with the creep in her cell. "So... how did they get you?"
*italics are spoken in Russian* Thanks to Siren for the sig and avi!
Posted by Akshay Malik on Aug 16, 2017 15:35:26 GMT -6
Haven
Member of Haven
whitesmoke
Bisexual
Single
738
32
Sept 18, 2022 19:05:19 GMT -6
Jorge
>> "My world tried this racist s**t once. The X-men shut it down."
Akshay nodded. He didn’t say anything to that. He had read some preliminary results concerning the other world. He learned a variety of things, and strange similarities between the two universes. SUPER wasted no time in collecting all the data and trying piece together everything they knew about the other world. The most interesting had been the fact that both universes, at some point, had internment camps for mutants. Both had been tragedies, surely, but things went decidedly different ways.
X-Men. Akshay tilted his head at the name. The X-Men existed in that world too but they seemed to be far more openly accepted by the world. Here they weren’t so lucky. He sighed, adjusting his seat so he was more comfortable.
”X-Men are vigilantes in this world,” he admitted. ”I’m sure you’re already heard.”
SUPER was doing what they could to identify X’s but they were also instructed to not waste resources on apprehending them when there were bigger fish to fry; the Syndicate being one of them. He said nothing else, though and simply watched the young woman. She asked him what name she would probably go by and he answered, truthfully. She didn’t take it well.
>>"Well, I sure as hell am not gonna answer to a f*** number…That's some prison camp bullsh*t right there. And your sense of self-esteem is shot if you think Stalker is a good name to go by. Creep."
This was going well. He wasn’t here on any official orders, he only wanted check in on her, hopefully give her a friendly face to try and keep her from hurting herself. But it seemed as if he was met with nothing but aggression and frustration. It was understandable but exhausting at the same time. Thankfully he had heard worse from others so the name didn’t really have any bite. It just came with the territory. He shrugged.
”You’re not the first to say that,” he said, fiddling with the cane. ”I’m sure you won’t be the last.”
There were lots in life that people needed to learn to accept – Akshay accepted his.
>>"So... how did they get you?"
The question startled him somewhat. Raising his eyes to her again, she eyed the frustrated look in her eyes. She wanted to know how he started here but he was certain that it was an answer that she wouldn’t like. It was best to stay away from such topics so, leaning on his cane, Akshay stood up and made his way towards her. However, rather than stopping, he moved past and back to the door. Pulling out his card, he tapped it on the reader and watched the door slide open. He turned back over his shoulder and nodded to her.
”Come on. I’m sure you’re tired of these four walls. I can at least walk you to the cafeteria. Get some decent food in you.”
>>”X-Men are vigilantes in this world. I’m sure you’re already heard.”
"Yeah... and?" Svetlana arched an eyebrow. It was not like they were a government branch in her world either. Vigilante was not necessarily a bad thing, depending on what the actual government was like, and what exactly the X-men in question were doing. Svetlana doubted that they stole expensive paintings or something. But she was not about to argue semantics.
Akshay did not answer her question. For a moment, she thought he was finally going to walk out, but he paused at the door.
>>”Come on. I’m sure you’re tired of these four walls. I can at least walk you to the cafeteria. Get some decent food in you.”
"Yeah, because you look like they have decent food in here." she shot back, but he followed anyway. "You know you're weak. I could overboost you and make you ghost me out of here. Or whatever."
She was not even sure how his powers worked, so it was an empty threat a best. Sveta was not sure about her read on the guy. He worked for SUPER, and didn't even think they were all that bad, and yet he was being friendly, and almost apologetic. Creep.
*italics are spoken in Russian* Thanks to Siren for the sig and avi!
The X-Men were vigilantes, and that meant that they were a problem. Mutants running around, unregistered, well, it was just looked bad. It made other mutants believe that they could start taking the law into their own hands, that they could start calling the shots and screw what the rest of the world thought. It was simply not a good thing and they couldn’t allow it to continue to happen. For the most part, SUPER didn’t pursue them, but if they had come across one or two, they would definitely be detained. It seemed impossible, but it had happened in the past. A few of them even ran in their ranks now.
But now, a whole universe where the X-Men were lauded as heroes, as working with the police force, that was something that would never catch on here. One could say that it was a situation similar to SUPER, but the X-Men were loose cannons. There was no control over them in that universe and SUPER simply couldn’t allow that.
Still, he wouldn’t argue with the blonde. Instead he kept his piece to himself and instead, when she inquired how he had joined the group, he stood up and made his way towards the door. One would quickly surmise that maybe he was going to give up, that he found this exchange to be useless and they would just continue on with their day. But that wouldn’t be the case. Rather, as soon as the door was opened, he stepped out and invited the blonde to lunch.
Not as a friend, mind you. Rather he just wanted her to shove something in her mouth so that she would stop yelling all the time.
>> "Yeah, because you look like they have decent food in here…You know you're weak. I could overboost you and make you ghost me out of here. Or whatever."
As they made their way down the cold, smooth hall, Akshay’s cane clicked against the floor as he led the way. While it may have seemed stupid to let someone like Sveta out so quickly after her capture, really, there was no way she was going to get out of here. From what he had heard, the few times she ran, well, they didn’t work out well for her. So, she was free to try, but she wasn’t going to get far away from him.
Still, he smirked a bit at her comment about just overpowering him and making him teleport them out. She really needed to learn how other powers work if she wanted to get anywhere here.
”First of all, there are enough adapteds in this place to ensure you couldn’t charge your f***ing phone,” he responded rather gruffly to her threat. ”Second, my powers don’t work like that. Only one who can teleport is me. And, even then, only to another mutant.” His cane continued to click with every step. He shook his head as he moved on. ”You don’t have to like me, Svetlana. But if you want to survive here, you better damn well stow the attitude and start paying attention.” His eyes grew a bit distant. ”You don’t want to know what they do with the rejects.”
>>”First of all, there are enough adapteds in this place to ensure you couldn’t charge your f***ing phone,”
Sveta muttered some choice Russian swear words under her breath. At this moment, she really hated adapteds, despite her general affection for their auras and... other qualities. Of course SUPER would collect them too. Made sense, since they were forcing mutants to work for them against their will; some were bound to step out of line, and in those cases, adapteds were very handy. Damn them.
>>”Second, my powers don’t work like that. Only one who can teleport is me. And, even then, only to another mutant.”
"It almost sounds like you don't want to help me escape." Sveta muttered sarcastically. She was done screaming for the time being, reduced to making comments dripping with cynicism. She walked along anyway, because she really did not have anything better to do.
>>”You don’t have to like me, Svetlana. But if you want to survive here, you better damn well stow the attitude and start paying attention. You don’t want to know what they do with the rejects.”
"I don't want to survive here. I want to get out of here. I'm not a f*** battery. And the people I work for will be looking for me. And they will be a whole lot of trouble for SUPER. I don't think I'm worth it." Haven had the mutant powers, and they definitely had the money. They probably already knew about the world on the other side of the rift. It was only a matter of time before they put two and two together about her disappearance.
"Is that why you're still here, family man?" she circled back to her previous question "Because they'd kill you if you left? Or would they kill your family too, for national safety?"
*italics are spoken in Russian* Thanks to Siren for the sig and avi!
She was really an antagonizing ass, wasn’t she? While, yes, there was going to be some attitude and skepticism because of the way she was captured, honestly Akshay was just running out of patience with it. He didn’t expect her to roll over and accept her new circumstances but, at this point, he could have prayed, couldn’t he? It was a lot to take jn, to try to accept, but he was normally one of those guys that tried to easily break in the new recruits. He was just a field agent. Really he had no business being here, trying to quell her fears. And yet, here he was. What was that about? Guilt? Since when has he ever felt guilty for the things he’s done?
>>"It almost sounds like you don't want to help me escape."
He didn’t say it, but yes, the thought crossed his mind when he first heard that she was here. He figured it was the least that he owed her, considering she helped to save his life in her world. But escape from a SUPER facility was next to impossible. It happened, of course, but guilty parties were always caught and they were always handled. Unless he fled with her, which wasn’t likely, she wasn’t going to escape with his help.
”If it’d get you to stop yelling at me, I might have to consider it, “ he grumbled back with just as much venom.
She didn’t belong here. He knew that much was true. But the fact of the matter was that he couldn’t do anything about it. If she was stupid enough to get herself captured and not run head long back into the rip once she was on this side, it wasn’t his fault. She had warning, she had the chance, and she still fouled it up. No amount of anger was going to change the situation for her. So, if she wanted to survive, there were clearly something things that she needed to do differently.
>>"I don't want to survive here. I want to get out of here. I'm not a f*** battery. And the people I work for will be looking for me. And they will be a whole lot of trouble for SUPER. I don't think I'm worth it."
He sighed as he whipped around to face her. His voice lowered as he glared at her. ”How the **** do you think you ‘get’ out of here?” he asked her. ”They don’t keep you here twenty-four seven when you’re a good soldier, you know. You do good, you get to get out and live a life.” He ground his teeth as he turned around and continued to lead on. ”What you do when you’re outside these doors, well, that’s on you. Just know that they won’t make it easy…but there’s a chance at least.”
Trace Tanner got out, didn’t he?
>>"Is that why you're still here, family man? Because they'd kill you if you left? Or would they kill your family too, for national safety?"
He wanted to tell her to shut up. He didn’t want to talk about his family with this stranger, especially if she was going to be as harsh as she was. But, at the same time, she did need to understand this place and him being closed off wasn’t going to do any good. Silence encircled him for a long moment as he trudged on until he found the doorway leading to the cafeteria. Using his I.D. card, he waited until the door clicked (a second at most) and pushed in, letting Svetlana show herself in.
Despite what she figured a government cafeteria would smell like, it really wasn’t half bad. It wasn’t gourmet level cuisine, of course, but it was at least better than the grade school cafeteria slop that was usually dished out. So, as he waited for her to join him, Akshay shook his head as he started to explain.
”I met my husband here. Bruce. He…was just a data analyst, human, a good man.” he said. ”He knows enough about what happens here, not all, not as much as me, but enough.” He led the blonde to the food trays. ”But, yes. There are certain clauses that will be put into effect if the organization sees you as a threat.” He shrugged. ”I’d rather be a monster and know he and my son are alive than put them in SUPER’s sights.”
>>”How the **** do you think you ‘get’ out of here? They don’t keep you here twenty-four seven when you’re a good soldier, you know. You do good, you get to get out and live a life. What you do when you’re outside these doors, well, that’s on you. Just know that they won’t make it easy…but there’s a chance at least.”
Svetlana huffed. That was it? That was her big chance? Cave in, and hope that she'd get to slip away on her first field mission? As if. She knew better. Even Haven, where she lived and worked from her own free will, kept close tabs on what missions she got to go on, and what danger she put herself in. Because she was that valuable. It was the reason why she was certain Devon and the others were probably already looking for her. According to Akshay, if she caved in, she might be able to meet them halfway...
They walked into the cafeteria, and Sveta followed Akshay without much thinking, doing the automatic movements of getting some food. She had not been starved, although the food she got had been far from gourmet. And she had heavier things to think about.
>>”I met my husband here. Bruce. He…was just a data analyst, human, a good man. He knows enough about what happens here, not all, not as much as me, but enough. But, yes. There are certain clauses that will be put into effect if the organization sees you as a threat. I’d rather be a monster and know he and my son are alive than put them in SUPER’s sights.”
Sveta pressed her lips together. Husband, kid, life... as long as he did not step out of line. If she expected any help from Akshay at all, she might as well give it up right now. She would not have helped in his shoes, either.
"Can we at least agree that this place is royally f**ed up?" she insisted "Like, not in a 'public transport system needs to be fixed' kind of way, but in a, 'serious human rights violations' kind of way?"
*italics are spoken in Russian* Thanks to Siren for the sig and avi!
Posted by Akshay Malik on Aug 17, 2017 18:43:07 GMT -6
Haven
Member of Haven
whitesmoke
Bisexual
Single
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Sept 18, 2022 19:05:19 GMT -6
Jorge
It was strange that she actually went quiet when he begun to talk about what she needed to do in order to survive. Did he really think she was going to get out of here? Hell no. Did he think that she had what it would take to survive? Possibly. It may not have been right to offer her any false hope but it was clear that he didn’t like her being here either. Normally such attitude and pleads fell upon deaf ears, but the fact that he owed her his life was enough to push the man to uncomfortably seek a way to help her out. Besides, if she didn’t find a way out soon, he was sure that SUPER would break her before she got too far.
But he didn’t want to see that. Surprisingly it made him uncomfortable to imagine the Russian blonde as part of the ranks of SUPER. Again, maybe it was guilt for dragging her into his world (which wasn’t his fault at all!) but it was there nonetheless and he wanted to offer her some kind of help. He couldn’t get her out of here but at least he could be a face for her to talk to.
Well, apparently a face for her to yell at.
Walking into the depths of the cafeteria, it looked surprisingly…normal. A few agents in suits were around, having lunch. Others in more business attire were huddled together, eating at their tables. There were even others, dressed much in the same way as Svetlana, chatting at another table as they had their lunch. At most it looked like a hospital cafeteria but the food definitely smelled better.
As they moved, Akshay began to explain a little about his situation. This was where he had met Bruce, in a cafeteria much like this. It was him who he was sharing a life with, had a kid with, and cheated on constantly because of his own shortcomings. Svetlana didn’t need to know that last part. But it was a fear of his, that if he betrayed SUPER that Bruce and the kid would pay the price. All agents worked under those subtle/not-so-subtle threats, and still some people pressed on. Did they regret their decisions? Did Akshay? When he first joined he knew he was doing the right thing; after meeting Bruce, though?
Hrm…
>> "Can we at least agree that this place is royally f**ed up? Like, not in a 'public transport system needs to be fixed' kind of way, but in a, 'serious human rights violations' kind of way?"
He sighed as he made his way to the line and picked up two trays. He slid on across the counter towards her. ”Like the king’s concubine…” he said in response to her question. With that he picked up a cup of Jell-O and another of Mac-and-Cheese, setting them upon his tray.