2013.08.12 - Crossroads

It's been exactly two weeks and three days since Kwabena's memories were surgically altered by Jean Grey. During that time, the secret radio transmitter set up to alert Jean to his presence at the 'monitor point' has been silent.

At 4:00 in the afternoon, that monitor goes off. A simple relay beacon is delivered to Jean, signifying that Shift is present at the location. It's a mid-sized warehouse in East Brooklyn, near Bushwick. Not the best location, of course. Markings outside of the warehouse signify it as belong to the D&P Import-Export Corporation, Inc., which, according to records with the New York Secretary of State, is a legitimately registered business.

Not an official asset of the X-Men, of course, the place has been used for its purposes before. According to official records, the warehouse was set up as a cover operation between Kwabena and Elizabeth Braddock, before Kwabena was a part of the team.

And long before Betsy's recent, shall we say, changes.

As the alert goes off, Jean glances at her computer. Her lips press together and she glances to the lab door. With only a moment's hesitation, she picks up her tablet and leaves the secret underground facilities of the mansion, retreating outside to her favourite tree overlooking the lake. It gets her out from right underneath the Professor's nose and away from most of the others with acute telepathy. Because she's still trying to keep this whole operation a secret from everyone else. And it's not easy.

Thus, settling under the tree, she relaxes her body, closes her eyes, and focuses her mind, sending it out across the city to a particular warehouse in Brooklyn...

There is anger. Betrayal. A sense of loss. All of these things roil through Kwabena's mind as he sets himself upon his motorcycle, gunning the Harley's powerful engines before zooming out of the warehouse and onto the streets of New York. So many powerful memories are roiling upon the surface of his mind that it might be difficult to piece together. While they are jumbled, for the sake of storytelling, we will apply a sort of chronological sort.

First, Kwabena departed for Cincinnati, and then Louisville, all in an effort to secure a new identity and passage to Genosha. That, however, became irrelevant when a certain private dick, one John Carmichal, made contact with him. Carmichal informed him that Magneto was trying to find him.

Magneto found Kwabena in San Diego. The Imperator seemed upset that Shift had not taken his initial offer, but after a heavy discussion, the Imperator took Kwabena under his wing and back to the Genoshan Embassy in New York.

Citizenship rights to Genosha were given, using Kwabena's real name. A first in the young African's life, since leaving Ghana. A weapon fashioned by Magneto himself, designed to take portions of Shift's body in gas form, hyperaccelerating them to a state of plasma. A living gun, so to speak, given to Kwabena along with a mission.

That mission led him to a secret underground military bunker in Warren County, just northeast of Cincinnati. There, Kwabena's team discovered a Sentinel capable of assembling itself out of individual parts buried throughout the old rock quarry that concealed the base's existence. This machine was a prototype, but referred to itself as 'Master Mold'. The team was able to collect data and a handful of parts, before destroying the base in their wake.

That story, at least in part, was on the news.

Meanwhile, Kwabena himself is tearing through the streets of Brooklyn, making his way for the highway. Once on, he guns the motorcycle and heads north, away from the city as fast as his vicious weaving through traffic might allow.

Jean slides silently into Kwabena's mind, picking through his memories and slowly piecing together what's happened to him since the last fateful night she saw him. The information about Master Mold is troubling. So, frankly, is the weapon Magneto gave him. She takes very little satisfaction in the fact Magneto trusts the former X-man so well, knowing it's really her own fault... if only because she put the man in the right frame of mind to be useful to the self-proclaimed Imperator.

Unfortunately, the story gets worse.

What has Kwabena so troubled? It's the confrontation that was had this morning, at a bar in Mutant Town. It just so happened that Rachel Summers and Nate Grey were present when Domino, a person Kwabena once thought of as a trusted friend, showed up with Kurt Wagner in disguise. The two confronted Kwabena, since he'd hired Domino for the Cincinnati job, and brought Rachel and Nate into the picture in order to put him on ice.

Domino and Kurt were angry with him, feeling that he'd betrayed them (which he did) and the rest of humanity to Magneto. Sadly, Kwabena didn't realize that is what had happened until after the fact, when Sentinels attacked Times Square, attacking human and mutant alike. There, in Kwabena's memory, deep in his subconscious, lies a most troubling fact.

Rachel noticed Jean's work.

To what degree goes unknown, and Kwabena himself remains unaware of that fact. However, there was a fight, just moments ago, in which Domino and Kwabena exchanged violent words in the warehouse. The end of a friendship, and the feeling of betrayal and distrust shared between both.

Kwabena never truly trusted Magneto. The man lies in the same venue as Hitler, Caesar, and the like in his mind. And now, as he races along the highway, he finds himself at an unexpected crossroads. Will he continue to serve the Imperator of Genosha, or will he confront the man himself, risking his life and cover without even realizing it?

He feels that the Cincinnati job was a test. He believes that he was used as a pawn. And now, a rampant anger is driving him to confront one of the most powerful mutants in the world, challenging him to further understand what Magneto's goals are.

Aaaaaannnd that's what Jean was most concerned about. She's definitely going to have to speak to Rachel, now. Possibly to Nate, too. As for Domino and Kurt? She has no idea how to deal with that. It's not just Kwabena that's betrayed their trust. But she daren't say anything to anyone who can't protect themselves from telepaths.

She sighs heavily and pinches the bridge of her nose. It's a slippery slope. It would be a simple thing, if dangerous, to push his inclinations again, encouraging him to trust Magneto better. But she doesn't want to do that.

Which leads her to her own crossroads: Either she stops him, right now... or she pushes him so far over the edge bringing him back will put them both through hell.

The indecision plays out in the form of a physical crossroads. Take the ramp to Midtown and ultimately, the Embassy, or take the ramp that will lead him out of the city and beyond, to the countryside. Some place where he can find a nice quiet spot, and think.

Barreling down the highway, there is a sudden shift in Kwabena's thinking, something that will relieve the pressure from Jean's own troubled soul.

He needs more time.

The bike rips off to the right, leaving the main drag and heading down a ramp that will lead him out of the city.

Jean lets out a soft breath as Kwabena veers off away from the city. She considers where he's going -- a roadtrip or a specific destination? Either way... She could go to him. See him, talk to him (how hard, after all, would it be to cloak her appearance to his mind, and let him speak his own mind?), and make the decision to pull him out or submerge him further.

She just can't do this from a distance. It's not... right. That's what it comes down to. She's not someone who can play puppet-master from a distance. Not when the stakes are so high. The moral dilemma before her isn't one she can in good conscience stand distant from. She needs to do this in person.