All-New White House (CVnU Location)

@_animus_:

Bastian's arrival in the American capital was motivated by curiosity and concern, at least initially it was. The city had been leveled by an attack unlike any other witnessed in mankind's history. Whispered rumors and vigorously aired news reports indicated that the assault was connected to the mutant extremists who had recently been active in the likes of New York. A time traveling super soldier sent to the past to prevent a global mutant-human war from steering the world into Hell, naturally all things related to mutant terrorism garnered his attention. And so as he arrived in a city no longer glorious and inspirational in its architecture, the Black Baron's measured gaze took in the sight of broken concrete and rubble.

Smoke hung in the air and weakened the lungs of many. The irony scent of blood crept into his nostrils as he walked all about the city in silence, a quiet sigh escaping him as he silently acknowledged the similarities between Washington DC's current state and that of the world in his future timeline. It seemed as though he was already too late to stop the events that were now in motion. For a moment, frustration caused his blood to boil but the Black Baron's expression remained collected. He internalized his frustration and annoyance and allowed only a single word, uttered just above a whisper in his native German to voice his irritation, "Scheiße (F*ck)". Beyond that, he expressed nothing. True he was a conditioned soldier, his quote, 'Composure is a soldier's greatest weapon' coming to mind, however, Bastian was poised under pressure, he oozed a cool air of control and precision. Cold. Efficient. German.

Then in the most abrupt moment, he felt compelled, lured towards a particular direction. He didn't know why, and at the moment he didn't seem to care why he didn't know. All he knew was that he needed to find the source of whatever it was that called to him. He couldn't even choose to ignore it, lest he risk driving himself mad. And so he did, he continued forward, walking until he reached his apparent destination, the White House. There he set foot inside without any complications from security. He carried himself as he always did, with the gelid confidence and wicked swagger of a mercenary who seemed to know that his target never had any hope of survival. His was an aura of mute intensity and mystifying self-assurance. Its mystique simultaneously allured and intimidated. Then finally, his journey it seemed, came to an end. In an office.

There was a man. Seated, the perfect picture of composure. He had an air of omniscience to him that was unsettling. Bastian discarded that for the time being. He didn't care. All he cared about was what had compelled him to come to this man. "Why have you called me?", he inquired, his prominent German inflection magnifying the disarming bass and gravitas of his voice. He was under no illusions. A man with an aura that screamed 'mysterious' was where this... phenomenon that reached out to him was at its most concentrated? How could it not be his doing?

@aphasic: Good ish. I'm about to go out but'll be back later tonight.

@_animus_: Thanks. No worries, mano.

@aphasic: "...!"

Swiveling around in his chair Thomas' catacomb eyes examine the man of tomorrow. He stands, never directing his deep gaze into the young man's eyes but instead examining him from the feet upto the shoulders. "Are you infused with any technological enhancements? Genetic modifications...? I assume they're common place..." He circles the apparent soldier slowly. He didn't wear tags, his clothes were their own. But his demeanor spoke in short sentences. 'Control. Temperament. Drive.Training.'

He circles around to finally meet the man's eyes with his own,"In the future." He stands in a slow silence and waits for some readable reaction to his newly found information, "I called for you because you seem like a man who may be, ahead of the curve. I believe if we get to know one another, between my intelligence and resources, and your potential knowledge- and I'm assuming abilities- We can be... of a great deal of use to one another."

Turning away he returns to his tall chair, pressing a button with his thumb that turns on the fully florescent walls to cast light on his massive stock pile of unpublicated inventions, " Time machines are a very rare necessity in this era. Wouldn't you agree."

Grabs popcorn

@_animus_:

Just as his own inquiry was met with verbal evasion, Bastian elected against offering an immediate answer to the man's questions. Though instead of employing evasive language, he was instead more blunt with a basic silent refusal. His gaze was poised and his mute intensity oozed from every one of his pores. Like a predator, his emerald eyes were cold and mesmeric as they followed the nameless man's every movement. Then as the stranger's eyes finally met his, the Black Baron held his acquaintance's gaze with the disarming, silent self-assurance that seemed to always hang in the air about him. It spoke volumes of who he was. That he was a focused and formidable warrior whose muscle fibers twitch with years and years of experience and combat prowess every time he does battle.

And above all else, that he was a taciturn, sneering, ass-kicking antihero on a mission. He was a destroyer and a predator to his enemies. He boasted an intangible edge that served a simple warning to his opposition, 'Get in my way, and you die'. Though as the man came to answer his questions, Bastian considered for a moment, answering the stranger's previous inquiries. Considered. And he decided it was not a priority. "There's not a man or woman in this world that's seen the things I have", he began, his thick German inflection perfectly complimenting the audible depth and gravitas of his voice, "And if you possess the things you say you do, then we can make sure they don't have to see those things". Surveying the highlighted technology and surrounding equipment with a measured gaze, Bastian paused.

He was selecting his words. Though the opportunity seemed highly beneficial, he was not blind. He had to be aware. And so, transfixing his emerald gaze on the man of great promises, the German super soldier inquired, "What's the catch?".

@aphasic: "That may only be partially true...but I do agree. There's been enough blood shed to last this generation and the next." The chair lifts from it's cradle, the air beneath rippling with the waves of energy emanating from the seat, "But every reaction deserves an equal and opposite reaction."

"Join me, please."Swiveling in the air he begins to float down the hall past various displays, "In the past there have been defining conflicts of a zeitgeist. The war on drugs, the war on terror, and now I believe we're nearing what could be the war of humanity itself. The catch as you asked, is that I will supply you with anything you could possibly need. Resources, manpower, weaponry...influence. But you have to keep my involvement entirely secret in order to continue to receive my assistance. If you accept my offer, your first mission will start immediately. If you help me build the tomorrow I want, you'll get whatever you need or want twice over." The Vice president says, stopping in front of the final device.

@_animus_:

'Partially true?', the Black Baron's thoughts repeated, a subtle scowl of earnest caution falling upon his appealing, roguish features. Clearly this was a man who knew far more than he initially suspected, and he suspected the stranger to be in possession of a significant amount of information. Remaining a foot behind him, Bastian's footsteps calmly trailed after the knowledgeable stranger, his chilling, emerald gaze taking in and analyzing every bit of visual stimuli. The set of displays festooning the hallway they walked through were impressive, to say the least. 'The war for humanity', the Black Baron silently corrected, having yet to utter a word as he observed the technological innovations extending from every angle.

It was alarming to see that an individual this far into the past had managed to develop and perfect technology that seemed to contend with the dubbed 'super science' from the future from which the German super soldier hailed. Pausing alongside his potential benefactor, Bastian remained mute and considered the offer. He was a realist, and it didn't require much for him to realize that his mission to prevent mutant terrorism from spiraling into a global war on humanity would be almost impossible to complete should he find himself hesitant to use any means necessary. He didn't trust the man, though he would be a fool to deny that he needed him. "I accept".

I'm on my death bed and Animus goes to work. YES!

"This is all wrong." President Pierce muttered as she shook her head back and forth. It was a silly attempt to jog her thoughts, but Clarice squinted her eyes tightly, shaking like a salt shaker, because she was uncertain of her next move. Sadly, the brainstorm hadn't happened and she once again, lost in translation. There was, however, a consolation prize. During a time of absolute stress, she knew what to wear.

Much to the discontent of her PR team, she wandered around her office in a simple black, long sleeved crop top, pulled together by a pinstripe pencil skirt. Even in her vain attempt at upholding her fashion forward image the perceptive python slithered about barefoot, hands folded above her chest, thinking and thinking as her messily tied bun bounced about.

"This can't be happening,"she huffed and she puffed, her cool complexion reddening with the rage of a thousand suns.

"THOMAS!!" Miss Pierce exclaimed, but as the anger left her lungs, a brief moment of lightheaded fatigue made her sway to the side of her desk. "Thomas, where are you?" She fought back the rage, a raw rage, unwilling to crumble when there was so much to fight for. With that mind, she took a deep inhale and exhale, and pushed herself back onto her feet, dusting off her skirt as if nothing had occurred.

"I can't do this alone," she spoke to herself with an uncharacteristic tenderness, her hands instinctively grasping the only photo she owned of her son and his father. "Not anymore."

@_animus_ (And the Landslide brought me down....)

@clara_mass: Rolling from around the it hallways corner, Thomas turns his high tech wheelchair to face President Pierce, the dark hue of the office only accenting the dark energy she seemed to emit from her person. He contains his smile, "I heard my name, and the commotion. Is everything alright? You look, scattered."

@clara_mass:

Solaris was a being of her word...and she had made a promise during the fighting in New York. Today, she began the investigation she had promised. Solaris flew to Washington D.C. in her usual heroic attire and shook her head as she surveyed the damage done there just days before. Why must you always fight? Look at the beautiful things you can do when you work together...She sighed and landed inside the fence of the White House. Guards immediately raised their weapons but some of them backed down just from her disapproving gaze.

She raised her hands slightly to show she meant no harm. "I wish for an audience with the President. Keep your guns if they make you feel safe, but we have important matters to discuss. She smiled a little and gestured to the ever present crowd beyond the fence, many of them protesting. "She can leave me standing here all week if she would like, but I am patient and your media is not kind." The longer she stood there being denied an audience, the more likely it was the already irritated public would use Solaris as a source of fuel to further their anger. To have a high profile hero left standing waiting for an audience in such dark times would not play well.

Solaris waited while someone ran to inform the President that she had a new guest. She turned and looked straight at the cameras at the gates and offered a heroic pose (superman pose). "I swore to someone that I would investigate the massacre at Noc Haven." She told those present before the gates, protesters and media alike. "Mutants and Humans have to learn to get along or more of these events will happen until they spiral out of control. I am hoping your President will be willing to aide in my investigation so that we can put the people truly responsible for the atrocity to justice."

@_animus_: Her eyes glimmered that usual violet hue, this time, however, they manifested a sort of trailing neon light every time her head moved, which in turn incited a shift within her power paradigm.

"I've been dealing with a lot, Thomas,"unwrapping her hair felt like a much needed stress reliever as the dark brown locks draped her smooth olive skin.

"In case you hadn't noticed, people died on our front yard,"she sneered, visibly distressed, but most of all aggravated by his seemingly sincere display of nonchalance.

"I'm receiving calls from every politician from here to freaking Vatican City and I'm not sure what I'm suppose to do," whilst massaging her temples, Miss Pierce did her very best to stay on task, because lashing out wouldn't serve her any real purpose. At least that's what she's told herself.

"I can't deal with this shit. I didn't, I didn't sign up for this shit," she laughed a convincingly honest laugh, her personal amusement stemming from the irony of her predicament, "Yet, here I am. I'm unable to reply to the complete bullshit that happened out there." She leaned against the desk, propping her butt onto the table as she put pressure onto her temples.

"It was unexpected and it didn't make sense." She closed her eyes, the residual violet light popping like fireworks as she thought thoughts that ought to be said. "I may not make sense a lot of the time, but that...that shit was total left field."

"I need to know where were at with...with that goddamn app. Will it help?"

@clara_mass: Wheeling over to the front window of the Oval Office Thomas looks outside at the crews of men cleaning round the clock to restore the invulnerable image that was itself, shattered."Now that you mention it, there are an increased amounf of limbs on the topiery." He jested, turning with a coy smirk back to the chief of staff and rolling over to her with the aid of a stick control under his right hand.

"In your position you've got the weight of Atlas on your shoulders. A woman, young and intelligent and threatening, holding the country in her hands during the worst political and national events since the original civil war. Perhaps, you just need to rest. Find your bearings and recoup." He says placing his hand over her own, a sympathetic tone rising from beneath his peaked eyebrows, "That shit was out of left field, as you so put it. Maybe you need to warm the bench for a while, let the game play out." He leans back in his chair and pressing it towards the door

"The application is making progress, In fact it's near complete. All the necessary components are in place except for one, the one. I'm having difficulty finding the answer to the source code...the central nervous system of it all. Perhaps if your not too busy we could go down to the PEOC, discuss it in greater detail? it may be what you need right now."

@_animus_:

Solaris arrived at the White House again without invitation. Her agitation with the current government had reached levels where she no longer cared to wait for someone to talk to her. When the new President had gone on television and made his announcement, she determined to learn what he knew. Apparently he knew the perpetrators were not American soldiers...or worse, he was lying about it.

Solaris landed on the front lawn of the White House and floated to the front door. Two guards intercepted her but this time she was not intent on waiting outside and hoping for the best. Solaris adjusted the sunglasses she had put on to make interaction with her easier and look at each of the guards in turn. "Open the door, I will speak with your President. If you do not open the door I will super heat the air around you until the heat is overwhelming and draws the air from your lungs." The guards were stubborn and refused to be cowed. Solaris sighed and did as she had promised. The two men soon passed out from lack of oxygen.

The living star wrenched the doors open despite their locking mechanisms and floated into the lobby to the surprise of everyone inside. "Please tell your President I wish to speak with him." She told everyone. "It is about the mutant attack that claimed the life your previous President. I am attempting to find out who was responsible for the original attack on the mutant haven."

@solarius: (About to go have lunch. bbl.)

From the top of the stair case to the Oval Office Thomas comes down on a rascal and with the aid of an assist, jumps into his chair. "Speaking. On what authority should you be privileged that information? I'd like you to know, as a guest courtesy, that there are several metas on alert waiting for te chance to attack. Please do not threaten my staff again or there will be dire consequences. "

@_animus_:

"Metas and threats of violence do not concern me." Solaris said. "Your two guards outside are fine, I merely rendered them harmlessly unconscious. I ask to speak with you on the authority of justice. A major attack crushed parts of your country based on a lie, as you yourself said on television. I am seeking the actual perpetrators, I want to reveal their identities to the world so that no one will suspect your country of having committed such a horrible crime. Your predecessor ignored me." Solaris shook her head a little. "It does not look good to the world when you have been accused of this crime yet deny aide to those seeking the real perpetrators...they begin to think perhaps you lie when you tell the world it was someone else."

Solaris looked around, there were members of the public here and some members of the media. She motioned to them. "They want answers and so do I. Will you help us get answers, or will you draw a shroud around your administration just as the previous President had?"

@solarius: "Ms..."Thomas says looking over at the media crews that had already lifted their cameras and boom sticks. A perfect opportunity for a sound bite. "I do not even know your name. My predecessor never mentioned you to me. But that you would come directly to this building, this building which was nearly destroyed thanks to intruding super powers not unlike yourself, shows you lack the foresight and empathy to be presented with such sensitive evidence as that involving the terrorists who vandalized our capital. "

His chair hums as he rolls it up to her waist line and looks up, "Do not presume to tell me what appearances dictate when you can't even use the damn door bell. The world can think I'm lying, the world can think I have area 51 buried in my backyard. The simple fact is, the day I delegate the authority of the united states government to a single individual that I do not know, is the day that government has failed as a leader of the modern world. If you would like to discuss recourse against the perpetrators in private however, perhaps we can find a common ground Ms...?" He asks following his extension of a possible union in the manhunt that remained on going.

@_animus_:

Solaris shook her head a little, convinced he did not understand her meaning or intent. "Your predecessor was busy taking care of their own image." She had little time for such people and had quickly come to dislike the previous President. "As for any door bell, I have come to believe that Human governments only respond to things they are forced to respond to. If something can be ignored, it often is. I will happily speak to you in private, as that was my intention from the beginning."

Solaris studied the man in the wheel chair when he came up to her. He could feel heat radiating off of her like a furnace when he got close. She immediately restricted her heat output to make him feel more comfortable at this range...not something every Meta would likely do. Soon the temperature near her was inline with the rest of the room. "I do not seek authority, I do not have the need for authority or the drive that so motivates many of your species or the mutants that also occupy this planet. My only concern is the innocent people that live here, on both sides." She glanced at the cameras for a moment and then back to him, as if still not really certain why he sought a private conversation, apparently the concept of less than one hundred percent clear government was alien to her. "My name is Solaris." She told him, answering his last question. At this range he could see that her sun glasses were not a fashion choice, they were keeping in light that would otherwise be nearly blinding.

@solarius:

"Ma'am . You've never met a man like me. Don't presume to know my methods before doing so." The rascal rotates up the staircase to the second wheelchair at the top step, an aid holding the back handles as he slides into it and throws a blanket over his legs, "Right this way." He says

Wheeling behind the desk as the aid is waved to stay outside, he points his hands to the seat for the radiating light source, steepling his fingers soon after. Examination of the woman reveals very little, only that she was a some type of meta, and she spoke as though English wasn't her first language. "Solaris. It's good to formally meet you. I'll need to ask a few more questions before I can trust you however...Where are you from? If I were to give you the information I have, what would you do with it? Would you act on your own accord or mine? These are the things that will help me make my decision. "

@_animus_:

Solaris took the offered seat, tracing her fingers over the arms of the chair for a few moments while he asked his questions. "I could provide you with the exact spacial coordinates if you would like, but you will find nothing there but the remnants of a super nova. In the universe there are a very few stars that are living consciousnesses, I am one of those. After our star form meets its death, whatever death that may be, we are able to choose a second form. When I was still a star there was a populated world in orbit of me that was not too unlike your planet here. The planet was torn apart by war, literally. I could do nothing to stop it, nothing to stop the screams of the dying. When the first phase of my life ended I determined to find another world with the same problem and do everything in my power to stop it."

Solaris sighed softly. "I look around your world and see killing, I see a world that is moving towards the same fate as the one I once knew. I want to help, that is my only motivation."

@solarius: You gave me an idea, I'll keep you in mind for when I move forward with it.