Summary:Hank has the results of Isis' tests and from Nicks new car. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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Isis promised to return to see Hank when he got the results from her tests. And she is, it's just taken her a couple of days longer than it should but she's here now heading to Hanks laboratory.
Well, Nicks guiding them - relying on Isis to do that is a recipe for disaster.
"Hank was saying that he has the results of your car, Nick!" Isis is saying as they reach the door of his laboratory. Both of them have been added to the security down here - this isn't a place where just anyone gets.
"Doctor McCoy?" Isis calls out as she knocks on the door.
Knock-Knock-Knock. Knock-Knock-Knock. Knock-Knock-Knock.
That might be mildly annoying.
"So I heard." Nick chuckles. He's waiting as Isis plays the door like a drum. The broad, older werewolf (well, older in comparison to many at this school) has his hands behind his back.
The vehicle had been a trove of information, though much of it needs to be collated and cross referenced. The MOST interesting thing though was the discovery of four different strains of mutant DNA in the trunk. Interesting is in this case perhaps a word for ominous. Searching databases for the mutants in question would have taken some time but it is possible with Hank's equipment to at least get a general reconstruction of the person the DNA would build.
As it happens the Beast is indeed in the lab, he actually lives down here though technically he does have a room in the mansion proper, he's not used it since his return. It actually takes the beating on the door to get Hank's attention, he was working with a VR helmet on, manipulating a serum sample, one of his first runs for the possible reversion formula. After a moment he pauses, something niggling at him a 'I should be thinking of something'…and then he notices the rat-a-tat-tat at his chamber door. "Oh, dear." He murmurs, and then removes the helmet and bounds over to the doorway.
He's not exactly dressed for visitors, presently wearing a pair of Star Wars pajama bottoms, and a black t-shirt with Darth Vader saying 'Who's your daddy?' on the chest. Yeah, UBER professional right there!
The door opens, and Hank looks to Nick and Isis. "Ah, Miss Marik, Nicholas, good to see you…won't you both come in?"
"Uh. Hello Hank." Isis stops and takes the blue furred man in. "Was it washing day?" She asks quite ingeniously. Clearly, she wears her pajama's when its time to do the washing. And maybe Nick has to remind her that it needs to be done. "It's Isis. Not Miss Marik. Remember?"
"You said you had news on the car." It might amaze Nick that Isis enters the lab without too much of flinch. That speaks volumes really for her comfort.
"Nick, tell Hank about the others in the Zone and what Miss Potts has agreed to do." Isis is a bit excited about all that, really.
"Ah yes. Of course." Nick chuckles at Isis enthusiasm for the prospect though it really is good news. "Pepper Potts of Stark Industries agreed to help us relocate some at risk mutants and their friends and family out of the disaster zone." It's about a dozen people all told. Maybe as much as twenty when it's all said and done. "These were people who were being actively hunted. We took one in but, you know, I don't exactly have the resources to feed 'em."
Nick, as he is fond of saying, isn't exactly running march of the dimes.
"We didn't interrupt some personal time, did we Hank?"
Because yeah, that's not how Hank usually looks though Nick can probably remember some of his, er, wilder looks back during school days.
"Oh, well, to be perfectly honest it /is/ laundry day, good call, Mi—um, Isis." Hank rubs the back of his neck, and has the good graces to look a little embarassed. "And yes, I /do/ remember, habit, I'm afraid. I'll remember next time." In truth he must have been hella distracted to forget -this- time, his memory is to all intents and purposes perfect, but perfect recall means very little if one's focus is a bit wobbly at the moment. He offers a toothy grin then and clears the doorway so Isis and Nick can enter. "I do indeed have news on my forensic analysis of the car, as well as the testing we did on yourself, Isis."
He moves over to a lab bench, and then pours some coffee out of a decanter there. "Coffee?" He offers the pair, and will prep and bring it back with him when he returns. "So…there were four different DNA samples to be recovered from the trunk, mutant DNA. I'm working on generic reconstructions from the samples, but they're still rendering. Also running searches to see if there's any other records to be found, no knowing what will turn up there, or when, I'm afraid."
He smiles. "I have not mett Miss Potts, but she seems to be a very helpful person, a good one too." He looks to Nick then. "As to helping out with the relocations if you need help, let me know, I'm not impoverished, and since moving back to the school my expenses are nearly zero."
He leads the way to a terminal, calling up images of Isis's throat. "I did find something that was quite interesting, these striations, the pattern sems pretty close to the voicebox weapon you gave me, and they appear to have been laced with minute amounts of Reverbium, my instincts tell me they would be there to facilitate bonding the weapon to her."
A grin. "And no, nothing persona, just…laundry, and these were clean, found them up in my old room." Ah, that would explain a lot!
"Can I have coffee, Nick?" There's a rule in the Paragon Investigation offices about giving Isis caffeine and for very good reason. That she's asking the big brown werewolf, in such a … subdued… way, is interesting. Maybe Hanks got milk or something that isn't likely to work Isis up.
She frowns though at the news of the car and looks to Nick. "There was mutant dna in the car? Like blood or … That doesn't mean anything bad was done, though? Like, it might just coincidence." Sure, it might be. And if they believe that, Isis might be able to sell them a part of the Brooklyn Bridge. "Are they related to people in the folders we found?" Nick might need to explain that a bit.
She might also get back to the Zone in a moment. Right now, she's looking at Hank in a horrified sort of way and shrinking against Nicks arm. "They … were going bond something to my throat?"
Nick finds himself some place convenient to stand. "Coffee would be nice, thank you Hank. For both of us." He murmurs as he peers over the work that the scientist was doing. Much of it is frankly Greek to him but then that's to be expected. Also some of it might ACTUALLY be Greek.
He might regret giving Isis coffee later but at the moment he isn't too concerned. Silly werewolf.
"In the Trunk of the car you said." Nick shakes his head. "That's not good. People don't usually go in the trunk do they?" Isis' prompt has him nodding a bit.
"We've found evidence that mutants were being profiled and targeted but we're not quite sure by whom yet. AIM possibly but there might be a company in the mix. Lobo Technologies. Not been able to find much on them." There's a short pause.
"You think they were going to augment Isis with a voice weapon like we've seen deployed elsewhere?"
Hank's a caffeine addict really, he practically lives on the stuff and with his sheer bulk he NEEDS a awful lot to have a chance to get any benefit from it. Taking Nick at his word, Hank pours for them both and raises a brow as to addins, his own is taken black, of course. Hank delivers the coffees, and then smiles somewhat sadly as he shakes his head. "Not generally used for transportation of people, no.It wasn't, however, definitely a bad thing> There was some small samples of blood, mostly the samples came from skin flakes."
Hank rests a hand on Isis's shoulder if she permits it. "I think so, Isis, I'm sorry. The stritations were most likely meant as anchor or attachment points, the match to the voice box was not perfec, so it could have been a newer design, or something else, but I'm confident that -something- was planned for bonding to your throat, yes."
He listens about the profiles, and looks thoughtful, sipping coffee before rubbing his chin. "Lobo Technologies? I'll see if my SHIELD contacts might have information and I'll run my own, err, less official, search as well." *cough*cough* Hack *cough* Even as he muses, he looks to Nick. "Almost certainly one of those weapons, or something similar." Hank agrees with a nod.
"You do if you're trying to sneak into the drive in." Isis says in a very worldly way. Too many late night movie marathons on Netflix. She absolutely *loves* Grease and watches it regularly. "But you're right. I doubt these ones were trying to get into a drive in. Is there even one in New York?" She shakes herself and refocusses.
Even though Nicks said she can have coffee, the feline-like mutant hasn't picked the mug up yet. She's trembling a little as she thinks on the news that Hank's given her. "I knew they were doing things to the others. Icarus' voice changed one day… then he smelt bad and was gone not long after."
"Do you think it's related then?"
"It's too much of a coincidence not to be." Nick says a little grimly. He puts a hand on Isis shoulder. He knows remembering this is very, very unpleasant for her. Hank will know that too. Hank's seen her up close as she's gone back through this in her head.
"So it might not be that there was someone IN the trunk. But four mutants. That's a bit of a coincidence. The car's papers said it was a company car. I wonder if…"
Beep. Oh. That's a notification for Hank that his renderings are done. It comes in on his mobile or whatever clever device he has the smart machines in his lab synched to.
"Beep-beep?" Nick cants his head.
There's a positive hit. Four of them in fact. All four of the mutants were in the old registration databases. Those… were not horribly secure and not always curated by the most trustworthy of people. There are a number of potential ways someone could have gotten access to them.
"Actually there's several drive ins still about, but no, I think we can safely discount that as their motive." Hank is quite fond of Grase himself! He nods to Isis, his tone calm and level, a soothing bass. "It woudl make sense, the 'noisy-metal' in the striations, bound to the target's voice box, and then the weapon to the subject's throat. You would most likely be rendered mute, but the device you provided was an amplifier first and foremost. Granted, they could vary the osscilations and frequency to induce a wide variety of effects - sopoforic, mesmeric, even a low level subsonic hum to render someone suggestible are within the realms of possibility, a fear pulse, the list goes on and on."
When the search comes up, Hank smiles. "Beep-beep." He confirms, and then moves to another terminal, and quickly reads the results. "Four hits, from the old registration database." He sighs. "They were not all that secure, I'm afraid, a great many avenues were out there to access, so that doesn't really limit the suspect pool."
"You wonder if, what Nick?" Isis's ears turn as the 'beeps' go off. "Can we go to a drive in, please Nick?" Now she knows there are some around, that sounds like fun. Of course, he's probably going to regaled with tunes from Grease for the next several days.
Lucky Werewolf.
"They were going to take my voice? And then make me … sound like a monster?" Isis can't help but rub her ears against Nicks arm, as her distress rises and broadcasts to the others. Nick and Piotr, and the others, likely rescued without too much time to spare.
There's something else to focus on. Not great news but it's not about her - which helps. "Four mutants. All in the registration database…." beat "… they're using the registration to find more. Can you get the lists, Hank? If it's not secure?"
"It might actually help us confirm some other information we've found…" Nick pulls out his phone and opens up a document with names and pictures. "We located what seemed to be pictures of people under surveillance. All mutants identified in the Reg Database. If the names match…"
They do. Hank can see them. And the reconstructions are similar to the photos as well.
"… then whomever took these pictures is likely connected to the people who got the information out of the database. Ockham's Razor."
Nick makes a face. "And that means someone at Lobo Tech is or was involved. We just… don't know if they were involved with the knowledge of the company itself. We've got to figure out who used this car."
The big brown werewolf looks down at Isis. "I wonder if AIM is the only culprit here…"
Because there might be a lot of money in weaponized mutants. IF that's the game here. There is one big unanswered question: Why only animalistic mutants?
"We can drive in it yes, Isis. That's kind of why I got it."
Hank's not sure if he can offer Isis comfort, so he errs on the side of caution, at least Nick is present - and CLEARLY a source of the same for the girl. Still, she can certainly smell Hank reacting to her distress, his own scent spikes with bits of adrenaline, as if preparing to fight, to defend. "Take your voice and turn it into a weapon." Hank says very gently. When she tangets to the mutants, he nods. "Already working on it, Isis." And his fingers are definitely flying over the keys at his terminal, there's a lot of them around the lab too!
He calls up a side by side comparison of his renders to the hits from the database, sending them to the wall o'monitors he has in his computer section. All the monitors synch, edgeless, to form huge images several feet tall that shows the renders and the matches in the database records he's already gotten. "Definite matches, names to files to database entries." A nod. "Definitely need to find out more about the drivers. The car's history has been pretty well scrubbed, and the VIN was removed, though I am working on recovering what I can from other parts, it is a longshot, but might provide some help."
A thoughtful look. "I wonder if the animalistic mutants were being used due to something about the structure of their voice boxes, some property or function needed to interface?"
"Good. So we can drive in the car to go to the Drive In." Isis nods to Nick. He might be a little disappointed she's reverting to the scatterbrain but it's a protection mechanism.
"I don't think it was only AIM, Nick. Though my project … " Hanks thoughts get a sigh. "They used mutants like me and forced other mutations. They kept us in a feral state of mind." Nick can attest, and Hank will see from her files, how had it had been to bring her to 'human'.
"I think they're looking for something very specific. Not just our voices but … more."
"I can help there." Nick produces a partial document for Hank. Paper type. And by partial - the document has been torn. It does clearly have the logo of Lobo Technologies on it.
"Found that in the car. No name on it but it might yield some clues anyway." He'd noticed the VIN number was gone. When he registers it he's going to have to have a new one assigned and that is SUCH a pain…
"It's possible that there's something in the psychology of mutants like… well, us." Nick nods to Isis and Hank and himself. "There's always that edge of something wild in the back of our minds. Maybe that's a desirable trait for some reason." Though for the life of him he can't think WHY.
The elder of the mutants sighs. "I think Slim's gonna need to know about this Hank. Or Jean. Or both, God help us." Also God help him. He looks at Isis.
"Drive in…" Oh boy.
"Actually…a mutant's powers derive from our unique brainwaves, that's well established. What if the combination of biological traits combined with the mutant brainwaves /as amplified by rage issues/, is what they've learned to tap? It could be that they simply haven't learned to tap any other sort of emanations for their weapons." Hank looks very thoughtful as he considers, and a bit excited. "It doesn't have to be so, but that does hit all the variables." A toothy grin. "And as suggested - Occam's Razor."
Hank takes the document, and reads it over. "I'll analyze the paper, see if there's anything interesting, chemical residue, idenitifiable inks, paper from an unusual source." Yes, Hank loves him some SCIENCE!
"Yes, I concur, we should get all the staff and First Class together, I think. This might require the full power and resources the X-Men and the Institute can bring to bear."
And then he gets un-dramatic. "When you both go to the drive in, can I tag along? Been a while…"
"That might be it." Isis wonders. "Maybe I need one of the telepaths to see if they can push past the block I've got. What do you think, Nick?" It might get them something but it's likely to be traumatic and the risk versus return is questionable. At least at the moment.
Isis sighs, the feeling from her rather unsettled in general.
"I'll do what I can do to help. Though you probably don't want me in the lab…" beat "We should tell Scott and Jean, at least. They know some of this."
"You can come to the drive-in, if you hide in the trunk." Now, she's just being cheeky.
"Be nice Isis." Nick chuckles. "Scott. Jean. You…" The werewolf shakes his head. "Well it'll be nice to have all the young'uns around I suppose."
Because Nick is fully three to four years ahead of all of them. There aren't many of his class - the first class - left around. A LOT of them got pretty badly burned by Registration but between what Hank can rustle up and then somewhat younger mutants running the school - Jean and Scott and so on - they should be able to marshal enough power to meet this threat. If only they fully understood what it was.
"Why don't you see if you can find some better pants, Hank, and we'll go tear up the roads for a bit."
Because he has a dodge charger… and he's not afraid to use it.
Hank gives Isis a look, and then grins. "If you insist. Never let it be said I'm churlish to a lady." Hank declares. He frowns about the telepaths. "Well…Jean is a good choice, I would have to say that Miss Quire is not, she lacks finesse…we could also ask Miss Frost, though, perhaps not." He's still not sure about her, she does have a history, though seems to be trying to do better. "Honestly, Betsy would be a good choice, but she's away just now. So it would probably need to be Jeanie."
Hank looks to Isis, one very long arm resting on her shoulder a moment, and scritching. "Hey now, you're always welcome here, Isis. Never feel you're not wanted, mm?"
Hank grins at Nick. "Just because we're the old men of the school doesn't we need to be CRANKY old men, we'll leave that detail to Scott, shall we?" Hank IS teasing, though Scott can be rather dour at times. At the offer of Dodge Charger-ing around, Hank nods. "I have something I can find, surely."
Isis gives Nick a look. If she had a tail it would be twitching. She doesn't though, so she just smiles. "I am being nice."
Hanks assessment on the Institute teeps isn't far wrong. Jeans got blocks installed and the last time she delved Isis, it wasn't pretty. Oh well, they'll work it out. At least Hank is scritching her and that doesn't get him scratched. She purrs just a little bit too. Hanks got the Isis seal of approval.
"Go… get dressed. I want to go driving…" Maybe Nick will take them to buy ice cream. Isis can't think of anything better.