Summary:Martin and Hank get Doc Almer up to speed on recent events. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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On the way out of the briefing, Hank smiles to Martin and rests a massive paw on the guy's shoulder. "You want to get caught up on things?" Yes, in fact the fuzzy blue genius DID notice how out of the loop Martin was. Granted, the healer /did/ sort of invite himself to the briefing. The gentleman's smile is kind, though, as is the offer. "We can hang back, eat some of the leftovers, if you like."
As much as he was totally cheeky about stealing things from Hank food wise, Martin still starts a little from that huge hand so close to his head. He does try to hide that at least. "I'd love that." Getting caught up. And the food too. He's still pretty hungry. The tablet he's had with him is shown, "I made some notes for myself. I understand if some things can't be told, but I am really missing a lot I've realized. Much of the event talk went right over my head." So, he won't leave the room and settles back into his chair. Totally pulls over whatever remains of food and sorts through it for his preferences.
Yes, that was a tad cheeky, wasn't it? Sort of like a chihuahua stealing food from a pit bull! Sadly, Hank's senses are very keen, he notes the start and then withdraws the hand hastily. "Sorry." He smiles then and turns back to the room, also finding himself a bunch more food, this time focusing on the sweet side of the spectrum (since SOMEONE stole his cookie!). "Okay…so…just so you know RESCUE is not a team of Superheroes, not as such. The primary focus here is to help people globally, famine, flood, fire those sorts of thing..medical and humanitarian aid, and so on. That much is clear, yes?"
Martin waves a hand in a dismissive manner for the apology. "Not your fault. I need to get used to it." There will be no apologies for cookie stealing. "That's been clear from the moment I heard the name." Is admitted with a smirk. "Being rescue and all." Wrappers crinkle as he opens another burger, not really caring what was on it, and biting in. Calories right now are what's important, not taste. "Just more of wondering what the kennel was, beyond that I know what a kennel technically is, and the arena.. Was there really a gladiatorial arena run here in New York? Like to the death?"
"Definitely my fault, I'm a fairly monstrous looking fellow, very large, with claws and fangs - I apologize for taking liberty." Hank smiles, and the empath would probably find it interesting that the big guy doesn't 'leak' much, still…there's a sense of genuine contrition, and perhaps a hit of sad and tinge of self-loathing. Swiftly suppressed. A chuckle at the wry tones, and he inclines his head. "Fair point, sir, touche."
A moment to gather his thoughts. "Okay…so…Domino was hired, by parties unknown through an intermediary named Chalk to hunt down one of the Nova Hounds. I had noticed some incidents, and was searching for them myself, my research having shown the sightings and incidents in the area of the DZ were consistent with 2-3 animals, not just one. We found them, and they found us, and Domino and I ended up buried alive after the fracas." He projects a holo screen, showing what the young and adult hounds looked like - the young were about the size of adult mastiffs, the adult—a compact car!
Martin snorts, "None of that now." For all he doesn't explain exactly what he's meaning there. "You are a delight in all ways." And he'll reach out and pat you on the shoulder in the same kind of manner you did him. See, it's okay. "Adorable too, so move on." There's a frown for the explanation and images. Martin will touch the holo too, for all his fingers go right through. Still kind of delighted in all this weirdness now that he's getting over the shock. "Nova hounds? Sure, these monsters clearly, but you are skipping over things. So should I assume these hounds made trouble and you were hunting them down. Then got buried?" Since you are here now he assumes you are okay. "Is the kennel where they were from?" Of course Martin is eating during this, mindful of his mouthfuls and articulation.
A faint frown at the snort and pat, and then Hank can't help but /laugh/, a full on laugh, and then a couple of chuffs at the adorable comment. "You're rather…direct, aren't you? My fiancee can be much the same." He chuckles. "Right. Nova Hounds, mutated from a Japanese Fighting Mastiff into…these." Hank grins at the delight in the tech, hell, HE loves the tech! "Right…this is how things all began. In our further efforts to find other hounds, we discovered the Kennel. To be blunt…it was a horror show. I was not inside, I was outside dealing with an adult male hound, about twenty percent larger than the one I showed as an adult, and a cyborg soldier and a couple of friends, though I had assistance in the form of a mutant named Whiplash." Another image of a purple skinned girl with..tendrils? Kind of disturbing. "The rest of the team dealt with nightmare…hounds…cyborgs, people being used as food, it was a training and breeding facility for the things."
The red-head shrugs, "I have no shame." Martin gives matter of fact. "I tell it like I see it." And that's why he has trouble with people sometimes. Of course Martin grows totally serious as he gets a full explanation of the Kennel. "I'm glad I wasn't there." He'd still be having nightmares! "More glad that any of you got out alive. Is the place shut down now?" Really hoping that it is. Not wanting to see more of those images, he digs into the remaining food pile again. Sure most of it's cold, but that's okay. Probably eats as much as Hank does.
"Clearly." Hank does not seem to disapprove, amused really. "I'm sure that served you in very good stead on many many occasions." He teases a bit. That teasing mien fades away then, and he nods, killing the holo screen. "It has been destroyed - both by a self-destruct the person or persons in charge had setup /and/ a satchel charge left by the incredibly verbose woman present in the conference by audio only left." Hank shakes his head. "It was literally nightmarish, and in the wake of the dual explosions Neena, alias Domino went MIA. Still, upon further investigation of the site in the aftermath clues were found that she had survived somehow…and my former student Hisako managed to capture one of the guards."
Martin rolls his eyes about it serving him well. More like dishing up trouble, but he can't stop himself. Doesn't comment about that however. "Good." About the place getting bombed. Such things need to go boom. "Sad those people got away." Or the man is assuming anyway. "Is that when she got captured?" After going missing at the kennel?
"Much of the staff were actually killed — some did manage to evacuate in the chaos of a massive fire fight, though our laconic friend did evacuate some mutants, and yes…Neena was captured, somehow evacuated by teleportation, and brought to the Arena, we mentioned in the no doubt confusing briefing."
Hank ponders a moment. "Neena was MIA for about a week, before her badge suddenly reappeared on the system, and we got a fix on a second site, the earlier evacuees having also been extracted via the same sort of teleport along with some key papers and data I would imagine and probably samples."
Teleportation? Just when he thought it couldn't get more weird. Martin is pretty sure he's going to be thinking that for a few years.. Couldn't be weirder than this.. Until it is. "Neena is Domino?" Simply making sure you two are talking about the same woman. "Teleporting sure would make the place hard to track otherwise, eh?" No outright path to follow. Or so he thinks anyway.
Teleportation, yup! Welcome to the world of Supers, Martin. But…we have COOKIES! Om Nom Nom. (Which you've already stolen!). "Neena is Domino, she has a few other aliases, Posse occasionally might slip and call her Tamara." Hank shrugs. "She's a mercenary, though recently hired on here. She's led a very…colorful…life."
A sigh. "Yes. The teleportation was a serious roadblock, no doubt. In any case, the guy that gave her the contract apparently was the source of moving the badge, and that allowed us to find the Arena, think…Thunderdome with superpowers, cybernetic hounds, and you'll be pretty close."
Martin left you half of one of those cookies, so there was enough! Now Martin is wondering why RESCUE would be hiring mercenaries, but he doesn't ask that. Seems extreme. Then again, the hounds too are extreme, so now he's wondering if he's merely naive about the way the world works. He does make a face about Thunderdome, and clearly doesn't like that idea at all. "I'm glad you all made it out alive. Is there anyone besides Domino you want me to look over?" She's already on his list of things to take care of. "And I know I'm to check for anomalies. Want me to save things if I can manage? That's not always a guarantee though." Lifts his tablet to look at his list.
"I am too. The fight was fairly ugly as you're sure to have noticed with things like 'sarin gas' and 'oceanic flooding' being mentioned in the AAR." Hank's relief is pretty obvious. "Actually, yes…the two prisoners, see if they're 'marked' too? Just in case."
Hank smiles. "If you can save samples, that would be appreciated. I'll provide proper containment cases for anything, if at all, you can salvage, thank you, Doctor Almer." Hank nods once. "Oh, and thank you for being willing to come to the Tolliver Clinic in Mutant Town, I have been working on my residency there, it would be a massive boon to have your help, seriously."
Martin finds a stylus at the side of the tablet, and starts adding to his notes, "Do I need to get security involved? And who should I talk to about that?" Prisoners is kind of telling there, and he's brand new to the company. Will add notes about who to contact and all that jazz. Mention of the clinic and he nods, "I'm a work-a-holic, so it's not any trouble. Just make sure I know when so I can make arrangements. Will I need ID there too?" He pauses and sighs, tucking the stylus back where he finds it. "I know it'll get easier, but damn there's so much I didn't expect to need to know."
"Probably will want to work with Posse, yes. I don't think we have actual 'cells' here, so the guests are probably in secured quarters, in truth the merc surrendered, the other is some sort of meta, and is an actual prisoner though. Can grow and get very strong, so take no chances." Hank nods about the ID. "I'll get you the paperwork, hell, we can likely do it onsite, the clinic is always starved for staff, even as a sometime visitor you'll be welcomed with open arms."
Hank has been rather steadily eating his sweets, alas, nobody brought his secret shame and guilty pleasure - Twinkies. He laughs then, another chuff. "Things have been exceptionally energetic of late." Hank agrees. "You'll be fine, these are some excellent people, Martin. The very best."
A nod about working with Posse, and Martin will do. Frowns about that merc mention and adds that to his notes. There's so much going on he wants to make sure he doesn't forget anything. Might need those details later. "Sounds good." About paperwork. "I've never been to mutant town. I'm sure I'm in for quite the education." A smirk about that. Should have gone long ago, but was afraid.
The very best? "I've noticed that." Is given with a smile. "I worry I'm rubbing some the wrong way, but so far I really like what I see. Getting to really help people is a blessing." And he's eager to keep doing so. "How did you get involved with them?"
"Mutant Town is very interesting." Hank says. "It is a poor place, a great deal of poverty, but there is a strong sense of Community. The woman on the audio? She is sort of a self-appointed guardian for it, and more or less runs a 'neighborhood watch' on steroids, as well as fighting crime and the like, she's former military, and rather damaged in a lot of ways, but fiercely protective." Hank ponders how much to say about her, and then just stops. "The watch is called The Pride, I'll introduce you around, it should be fine."
He grins about the best. "I actually met Roni years ago, we shared a class in college, but recently we all met up in the wake of a terrorist cyberattack. I was pursuing an armored car with radiologicals inside and ran into Posse, after we dealt with that with the help of the Iron Patriot, Roni came too and we got reacquainted and forged more ties. Not long after I ended up signing on after working and collaborating, and they also helped save my life."
That voice sure had been weird, but Martin hadn't commented because it would have been rude, and he also didn't want to derail the whole meeting with a ton of questions. He did simply invite himself after all. Might as well be somewhat polite. Cookies don't count for politeness apparently. "This will be interesting. In the same way as the curse of may you live during interesting times." The man's tone wry of course. In being a mutant, he should be allowed in, but he's still nervous.
"You toss out names so casually.. names I've never heard beyond the news reports." But Martin is smiling about it. "You move in some interesting circles, Hank. But considering how smart you are, I really shouldn't be surprised." And that's a compliment. You are very smart indeed!
"Oh, frequently, if not more so." Hank replies with a warm laugh. "It can be a bit much at times, truly." And yes, Cookies apparently are their own thing, in truth Hank is going to start carrying some to make sure that Marty has treats when he behaves! So, rarely, but there you go. Hank smiles reassuringly. "Trust me, Martin…there won't be a problem in Mutant Town, there's a strong acceptance there, some might be jealous of your being a 'can pass', but don't let it phase you."
Hank grins. "I have been truly blessed to meet and work with a LOT of very interesting and oft famous people. And I'll be delighted to introduce you around if you'd like." He chuckles. "Smart and lucky are very different things, but thank you all the same." He looks thoughtful. "Do you have anything you need?"
The man snorts for can pass, but he knows it's true. "You know I technically am an obvious mutant." Martin gives with a smirk. "It's just so subtle most people miss it entirely." Putting the tablet down he reaches for another burger. Going on four now, with sides, but he'll be burning the fuel off soon enough when he heals Domino and checks on the prisoners. "I'm fifty, and still have red hair." Kind of amused at that all. Not that he looks that old. Mid thirties at most.
There's a laugh about being introduced, "Naw, I think I'll pass. I already have enough trouble." Given with a wink. "No, I actually think that's all for now. Could I email you if I have other questions? That way you can more easily reply."
"MmHm." Hank /did/ notice. "All you need now is two different colored eyes and you'll have the two most visible mutations around, and the most subtle." Eyes of yellow are kind as he listens. "The denizens of Mutant Town tend to more…" He gestures to himself. "…dramatic mutations." Hank blinks. "My goodness, I had thought you closer to my own age, you look quite a bit younger than that, Martin."
A smirk. "Don't want to push your luck and tempt fate?" A chuff, and then he nods. "I can see that. And of course you can email me, and here…" He offers up a business card. "…all my direct contact info, voice, email, forums. Call, text or write any time of day or night and I'll get back to you soonest."
Martin snorts a laugh about dual colored eyes. He'll stay as he is, thanks. "Yeah, I knew about Mutant Town." Said a little sadly. He does regret his fears. "Well, I'm old enough to be your father. It's no exaggeration that I've been working in ER for twenty years now. My power likely means I'll live longer too. If my age progression is any sign." There's a shrug about that though. The card is accepted and he smirks about tempting fate. "Kind of late, eh?" To stop now. "Thank you, by the way. Don't hesitate to call if you need my help. You've already personally had a taste on what I can do."
"It is a sad place, but the people…they're beautiful and tragic an brave. You'll love them." As Hank clearly does. "Shall I call you 'Pops' then?" Hank says with a grin. "I'm pretty sure Edna and Norton McCoy might take offense though." A nod. "My own aging is likely to be retarded as well, but in my case it would be due to a strong healing factor, I regenerate fairly quickly." A full bodied laugh. "Very much so, yes. FAR too late." Hank offers his hand. "Of course…I promise, if I need you I will call, and I hope you'll do the same?"
There's only a kind of sad look about tragic and brave. Never a good place to be. But pops? "Fuck no." Martin gives firmly. He nods about your regen. "I had to fight it some, but all in all it's a good thing." Smiling, Martin will grip that hand. "Thank you for your time today. Get me those containers for samples and I'll figure out how to get to the prisoners and Domino." Rising to his feet, he'll take his tablet, and his trash, cleaning up after himself.