2013.09.09 - Genoshan Breakfast

For the past hour, Monet has been sitting in an establishment that could be generously referred to as a cafe. The majority of the floorspace is an extended patio with a dirt floor, covered by a hand-patched roof. There is a small building of corrugated metal attached to one side for the kitchen and serving counter.

Monet sits at a plastic table that does not match any other plastic table or chair in the place. A glass of water perspires by her elbow. She is more interested in a slender, gleaming scalpel held in her right hand. The tip of it is currently buried in the plastic. Monet works it side to side, digging a ragged trench in the tabletop.

She has read every mind within her reach. It is possible that this is a useless effort. The pale man could, perhaps, alter memories to render someone proofed against telepathy without making them obviously immune. It is better than nothing.

It would be wise to return to Monaco, eventually, before her father realized she was gone. He could potentially overreact. It wouldn't do to go and bring the pale man with her, however. Not that he doesn't already know where she lives.

Monet removes another chunk of plastic, accidentally cutting herself in the process. She dispassionately watches her thumb knit back together.

Jocelyn had a few reasons for visiting this cafe. But she wasn't thinking about them as she entered. Magneto had too many telepaths, and while Jocelyn had some defenses against such things (generally appearing as a mental 'hole' unless a telepath put in the effort to read her mind, and then Jocelyn would know about it and bring her full defenses up), she wasn't willing to take that chance. And so the tall woman walks in, glancing around the establishment. She gets the very slightest of 'pings' on her energy sense when Monet's thumb knits itself back together, but she doesn't identify it right away. Well, there were bound to be mutants here. It was Genosha. Made it tougher to pin such things down.

The woman walks up to the bar and orders herself a bit of food and drink. She leans up against the counter casually, looking around for a good spot to sit and also getting the layout of the place in the process. It was almost impossible for her to pass as a local, though with the number of immigrants to Genosha recently, that wasn't so much of a problem as it might normally be for the woman.

Nate returned to Hammer Bay the previous evening, looking somewhat tired. He slept a few hours and briefly commented with the others (those who didn't know already) about the work camps. Now it is back to covert work. He hasn't much faith in Shift's plan about creating resistance cells in Hammer Bay. Sounds hopeless unless they are all made up by alpha class mutants, and those are rare.

Too many superhuman mutants in Genosha for human-like tactics, really. Telepaths, precogs, psychometics, empaths, shapeshifters, people with enhanced senses, the works. Looks like half the mutants in the world are in Genosha, or on the way to Genosha. But he plays along, he needs to look for information and he can do it while they seek resistance candidates. They are supposed to go in pairs, so he went outside with Jocelyn. The tall redhead can see things he can't see, like the energy fields around the city, and he wants to know if there are interesting things to know about them.

When he enters the cafe, he is not actively scanning for telepaths and he keeps his mental defenses up to keep the many minds around him out of his thoughts. But for other telepaths, he is a beacon of power, his presence seems to set the Astral Plane on fire.

Marius St. Croix claimed that he could see a person's entire life by reading their aura. Monet did not know if she could trust such claims, despite her brother's tendency to back up his boasting. She does not often use her 'aura sight' because it is garish and of questionable usefulness. What does she care if someone is a mutant?

Monet is looking at auras right now. There are many. These two walking into the cafe have them. Who knows what they mean?

She unabashedly watches the two newcomers as they approach the counter. It is not difficult to notice Monet. She is the only other customer. When Nate and Jocelyn speak with the cook, an older man wearing a faded jersey, he repeatedly glances in Monet's direction.

Telepathic intrusion is another uncouth talent. It is extremely rude to enter a person's mind without permission. It is how Monet would like to be treated. She would also like to kill the man who kidnapped her and possibly did much, much more.

When her initial scan is rebuffed, Monet lays her scalpel flat on the table and hides it with her hand. One of them was like an absence and the other was a font. She has little idea what either means, but there are things that can be inferred. Monet telepathically slips past the psionic iceberg that is the man and presses against the mind of the woman.

There--a crack. The woman isn't nothingness, after all. She just appears to be. Monet attempts to break in.

<< Please leave my mind and do not try to enter without permission >> is what Monet is going to get directed to her from Jocelyn, even as the woman turns on her full energy absorption powers, absorbing the psionic energy that is directed at her just a bit. What Monet will get from that basic surface was that the woman was not hostile, but didn't appreciate her mind being broken into either, and that the woman could see that Monet was using psionic energy against her. Nate would likely pick up, if he's paying attention, that Jocelyn's full defenses have now been raised and that she was actively absorbing psionic energy sent to her. The woman was very good at living in the moment, and driving any other thoughts deeper into her mind.

It was something you had to learn the basics of when you lived at a school with telepaths.

Jocelyn's food arrives, and the woman pays for her meal before going towards the table that Monet is seated at. "Mind if we join you?" the woman asks politely. They were intending on meeting people, and if they just sat alone at a table, that would prove to be fruitless. And this one obviously had powers.

Nate has been told about that bit regarding entering other minds without permission and rudeness for the past year, repeatedly. He is almost becoming 'polite'. But before that, it was a survival trait.

Alas, Genosha brings back all kinds of bad habits. Also, there are rude telepaths everywhere! He does notice Monet's scanning, he is perceptive enough, and directs the young woman and brief glance. Then another, longer glance, because Monet deserves a second glance, despite the dirty dress and somewhat less than perfect appearance today.

Jocelyn going fully psychic black-hole makes him grunt. "Those telepaths, always causing trouble," he comments with a smirk. He just wanted a large mug of coffee, and quality wasn't as important as quantity. Of coffee and sugar, both. "Good morning," he nods to Monet, "looks like you got into a fight," he observes, conversational-like.

Monet is not polite. She lingers in Jocelyn's mind for a moment past the warning, completing a surface scan. The psionic energy between the two is absorbed simply enough, until Monet realizes what is happening. She narrows her eyes and mentally twists, attempting to undergo some psionic contortion that will allow her to continue without being siphoned. Nothing to be done, for the moment.

She withdraws, but continues to stare at Jocelyn. The Algerian mutant does not look embarrassed for what she did. In fact, she maintains eye contact with Jocelyn as the two walk over.

"That would depend on several factors," Monet says. She pauses to consider the two, glancing to Nate and then back to Jocelyn. She pointedly ignores Nate's insinuation that she is less than perfectly composed. "Why do you want to join me?"

For her part, Jocelyn is perfectly calm, and knowing that she's being scanned, she simply thinks about how rude it is to scan someone without permission. The woman is also able to 'watch' the psychic contortion, and just keeps absorbing it until Monet gives up on it. "Conversation. You look like you got into a bit of a fight. We don't have any hostile intentions," Jocelyn offers the woman, which is something Monet should be aware of from Monet's initial scan of her.

Nate gets an easy smile from her. "Indeed," she comments with an easy smile. "That and perhaps we could purchase you breakfast. That water doesn't look like it's terribly satisfying," the woman adds. What was it with her buying people meals when she was hanging out with Nate?

Nate doesn't disapprove buying meals. Food is feels quite important when one has been unable to get enough for weeks or months, always hungry and eating whatever his small group could hunt in a war-torn landscape. Folks have no idea of how bad would be a total war between humans and mutants. And it is his job to make sure they never find out.

But Jocelyn is still weird because she will buy meals to stray girls that pick her pockets and poke into her mind. That is not normal!

"We are curious and meddlesome people and you are the most interesting person in the place," he explains Monet.

"A non-compliment, considering the crowd," Monet notes. She slides her hand off the table, depositing the scalpel into her lap.

The young mutant leans forward. Beneath the table, she has taken the scalpel into one hand and placed her thumb snugly against the flat of the blade's back. "I must decline breakfast. I have no appetite for it. I must also admit that I have recently become a curious and meddlesome person, as well."

Monet turns her attention to Nate. She looks him up and down before continuing. "Tell me, then: what is your business on Genosha?"

"As you wish," Jocelyn responds. And usually breakfast for people results in new teammates! Even if Nate didn't know Jocelyn had ended up friends with Kiden because they were both on the Young Allies, but that was a whole different story she didn't really want to get into right now.

"That seems to be a common theme on Genosha, but perhaps not entirely suprising," Jocelyn adds as she takes a sip of her drink. She's going to let Nate lead the charge on the conversation here for the time being.

Nate peers to Monet from behind his mug of coffee. How much did she pick in Joce's mind anyway? Now, turnabout is fair play or something. He sends his own mental probe into the dark-haired girl's mind. It is not really very, very subtle, but he is getting better at basic telepathic tricks, and if Monet has her shields down or is not paying attention, he might get through. "She goes by Barrida," he replies Monet, "I am just Nate. You could say we are checking things over, seeing if this place really works for mutants and if the news reports are telling the full story."

Nate's telepathic probe is firmly rebuked. There is no trick to it, no special power or mental conditioning. The woman's mind is simply not accepting visitors and is willing to enforce personal space.

"Does the media ever tell the full story? They are people, too." Monet turns her head to look out into the street. She watches a group of workers pass. "You are on the wrong side of the island. You will want to visit Bastion. The trains run on time."

The workers turn a corner. Monet lingers on the building they disappeared around and then returns her attention to the table. "Your accent is interested. Where are the two of you from, Ms. Barrida, Mr. Nate? Or, is it Mrs. Barrida?"

"Just Barrida is fine, but I am unmarried," Jocelyn offers easily. "I am native to the USA," she explains. "I'm surprised you notice the accent though, what with all the immigration that has been going on," Jocelyn adds casually, taking a sip of her drink. Nate's probe is noted, but she doesn't say anything about it. "As for the media, no, it never does. Hence the visiting it to see for ourselves". Jocelyn has never trusted the media, really.

"How about yourself?" the woman questions. "Have you been here long?" Jocelyn asks.

Nate's keeps a poker face about the failure of his psi-scan. It was still useful to see if the woman was a full telepath or just a reader. "I am, hmm, kinda also American," explains Nate vaguely. "Not Mr. Nate, though. It could be Mr. Grey, but I rather not to hear that. I have already seen Bastion, but Hammerbay is more... ah, lively."

If this is a game that the pale man is playing, it is apparently useless. Such a dull conversation, idle chitchat traded countless times between tourists, could not be an end to his purposes. He would have attacked by now. Surely, he would know that he could not slither into her good graces by pretending to be unassuming. Surely, he would know that she would soon leave for some safer place, without traveling companions. Even if these two were under his sway, or were him, they are of questionable threat if they have not attacked by now.

"Me? I have been on Genosha for just over a day," Monet's eyes light up. She looks between the two as she speaks. "I had planned to leave immediately after meeting Magneto, but I was unfortunately detained. I hesitate to call it a kidnapping."

She smiles faintly at Nate. She does not seem sad, but rather tired. "Very lively."

"Why would you be detained?" Jocelyn questions, taking a bite of her meal. The surface conversation might be less exciting, but keeping certain things quiet was the best way to maintain secrecy. There is some concern in her voice, however, when the woman mentions it. Her energy absorption powers aren't active at this point, and a silent looks is given to Nate before she turns back to looking at Monet. "That sounds like quite the eventful single day to have been here," she adds.

Nate's eyes narrow faintly when Monet mentions first meeting Magneto, and then being 'detained'. Which considering her appearance doubtlessly involved violence and she was in Bastion, at the other side of the island. "By Magneto? Are you looking for a way out of the island?" His voice is quieter now. He is also scanning the people in the room, looking for spies and informants. Monet is not exactly inconspicuous and if she is on the run, someone could be following her.

Monet raises a hand, the one not nursing a scalpel, above the table. She runs her finger along the rim of her glass, attentively studying first Jocelyn's face and then Nate's.

"Eventful days can be routine with proper planning and grace--detained by Magneto? I do not think so. He was taken with me, but he would not take me." Monet's finger slides down the side of her glass, tracing a line through the perspiration, down to the puddle at its base.

"What would your way off the island be, Nate? Where would it be to? I am a stranger to you. I have not even told you my name." she says, tilting her head to the side.

Nate doesn't answer immediately, his attention divided for a minute. "So Magneto was a gentleman with you. It looks like his behavior since he got here has always been always beyond reproach." But the X-Men seen unwilling to trust him even a bit. It annoys and worries him no end. "Look, if you really need a way out, I can get you out of the island. Your name is not as important to me as the fact you would need help and I can help. Do you want to tell us your name, though?"

So interested in Magneto, this one! Monet considers the possibilities of her breakfast companions' affiliation and selects a few likely stories.

She pushes her water away, staring directly at Nate, her smile coy and perhaps teasing, if viewed by the proper person. "I think I would be more inclined to tell you my name if you shared your plan with me. Think of my position. You may be involved in activities that could be dangerous to my person. Most tourists do not darkly speak of 'ways off the island,' unless this is a very dramatic way of offering me a plane ticket."

Jocelyn focuses for a moment, turning her energy absorption on, and begins absorbing the sound energy around them. The three can still speak, but nobody away from their table will hear the conversation. The energy manipulator smiles a little. "I see. If you weren't detained by Magneto, might we ask who it was who detained you? I believe I misunderstood your phrasing earlier". A pause. "It is safe to speak; no sound will leave this table," she adds. Though obviously they were still visible, so it wasn't as though they were hiding. Just maintaining privacy.

The woman takes another bite of her meal and looks the woman over. She certainly notices how the woman looks at Nate, and mentally sighs a little. "I'm more concerned about the fact you were kidnapped, weak as it was, from your description, than anything else," the woman adds with concern in her voice.

"I can buy you a plane ticket too," admits Nate. "Although I don't think you are lacking the means to acquire one too. Unless you are in immediate danger of being 'detained' again, and so lurking in a small restaurant with a glass of water makes more sense." Although not a great deal of sense. What is doing a telepath with an expensive, if dirty dress doing there, anyway? "I can get you out of the island because my mutant abilities would allow me to transport you out of the island easily, alright? And some reasons to distrust Magneto. Maybe good reasons. Now, care to share a name before we start calling you 'hey you'?"

Immediately after her sigh, Monet glances at Jocelyn. She raises her eyebrow, almost imperceptibly. Yes, and?

"My name is Monet," she says. The young woman stands, smoothing the front of her bloody, dirty dress. The scalpel is concealed in the palm of her hand now.

Even with this greater view of her, she does not appear to be wounded in any way. "Thank you for offering, Nate. Thank you for hiding our conversation, Barrida. Unfortunately, it is in my best interest to decline your offer. Mutant powers were also the cause of my initial delay."

That's not true. The pale man didn't have an aura.

Monet offers a conciliatory smile, her hands folded in front of her. "It was a pleasure to meet both of you. I doubt we will meet again. I do not see another trip to Genosha in my future."

Nate has noticed, he is pretty observant. (Another survival trait). No injures, not even bruises, despite the dress state. So Monet must be tougher than she looks or heals quickly. He is also pretty sure she kept a weapon under the table with all that scalpel-sneaking. But he is betting it is a handgun. "Monet, nice name. Hey, if there is a mutant kidnapping mutants, we would like to know. Care to share a name, or maybe a psychic projection or these folks?"

"Good to meet you, Monet," Jocelyn says. She'd noticed the lack of injuries herself, so the woman must either have a healing factor or be tougher than average. Or physical injury wasn't sustained in a serious form. She lets Nate's question stand, though if Monet offers to share a projection of the person, she will drop her own defenses to see it as well.

"I am not sure it would help," Monet replies.

She turns, walking on bare feet out from underneath the patio. Once clear, the young woman simply rises into the air and disappears.

Or maybe her mutant power was flying.