2014.07.31 - Adjustment. With Fortune Cookies.

The command center of the old Brotherhood HQ is filled nearly from floor to ceiling with monitors. The various desks and stations have multiple computers, which combine with the installation's filth and decrepitude to form a look that's kind of... Punk Rock NASA. Most of the monitors are on, showing newsreels, mission logs, live feed from ongoing operations, and all manner of other data that would be useful to whoever was sitting in the command chamber. But of all of these monitors, the one that Gambit seems to be most interested in is the security camera footage.
Most particularly, he is watching the feed from the security placed in the room currently assigned to Jubilation Lee. Or, at least, to the Jubilation Lee who ended up at his doorstep very recently. Still no word on how legit she is. However, his instructions were explicitly to keep an eye on her, and he appears to be taking the order seriously. Even if it means that he has to occasionally look up from his game of solitaire in order to glance at a monitor.
Jubilee has been doing lots of reading. And double checking,and triple checking. And shaking her head. Plus there was that time she did some research on herself, and found a bunch of weird people who like to draw pornography of herself in various ways, which really had her shaking her head. A lot of her reading is about herself, about news related to mutants, and once she learns about is Genosha, once she runs into the factoid that Magneto rules that island. She reads a lot about Genosha, and how mutants have it here. She also reads in shocked disbelief about conflicts between his Brotherhood and the X-Men. Which then gets her reading about the X-Men, which she learns she is apparently a member of. So she does a lot of reading, Showering now and then after managing to get herself set up to do so, scavenging food from what remnant supplies there are.
For whatever reason, Gambit has given the young woman a lot of time to herself from the time that Magneto told him to let her live until now. The most likely reason, obviously, is that he interrogated her and tried to have her killed. It's not always easy to strike up a conversation after that. But now that she's had time to settle in, clean herself up, and get hooked up with some internet access, he apparently feels that she's had enough time to adjust.
Which is why, several minutes after leaving his seat in the command chamber, he knocks three times on the uninvited visitor's door as a warning. With a 'whoosh' the door opens at his command, and the mutant thief stands in the doorway, holding a paper bag filled with hot Chinese food, and two six packs: One of a localish beer and one of an 'artisan' soft drink.
"So I just realized that this might seem like I'm stereotyping you, but I figure you're probably hungry enough not to care at this point?"
Jubilee laughs a little. "No it's fine. We have a saying about the Cantonese: If it's from the ocean, we'll eat it." She then shakes her head. "This is so crazy. I now.. well, I sort of understand why you reacted the way you did, but... this is so crazy."
"Well... you might be out of luck. I'm pretty sure most of this stuff is from a dumpster, from the look of the restaurant. But whatever it's made out of, it smells pretty amazing." Without waiting for an invitation, Gambit simply walks past the young woman and drops the bag on the computer desk in the corner of the room. The furniture in the complex is pretty Spartan, so there' not exactly a lot of places to sit.
"I had Fingers order you like, half the menu. And these are for you." He sets the six pack of sodas next to the bag of food. "But you don't look old enough for beer, so I'm keeping these."
The beer dangles from his hand, with one of his fingers lazily gripping the six pack rings. "Enjoy. Try not to get heartburn."
Jubilee laughs a little. "Thanks," as she digs into the food. Hey, she's gone dumpster diving enough times herself, that she's not squeamish about it by now. Also cracking open a can, she nods "Any chance I could visit Genosha?"
One, two, three steps toward the door. Before he quite reaches it though, Gambit pauses and looks back over his shoulder. "I don't see why that would be a problem, assuming our fearless Imperator thinks that you check out. He takes a way more active role in customs and immigration than most government officials do, strangely enough." It's always hard to tell if he's serious, but at the moment, Gambit doesn't appear to be lying. Or joking.
Of course, that's usually the point.
"What's the matter, p'tite? Tired of the noise from the Mole Men already?"
Jubilee laughs weakly at that. "No it's just... well. I think it's amazing that we have a land of our own. And.. I want to see it," she says softly, before pausing to have a little to eat, and some of the beverage to wash it down. "I want to understand why, um, here, the mutants don't all get along, and the Mutant country seems like the place to start, to understand that."
"Ah. That." With just a hint of reluctance, Gambit turns back around. He finds something to sit on, but his body language makes it clear that he doesn't intend to stay for long. Well, long enough to have a beer, apparently, as he pulls one out of the plastic ring and pops the tab with a loud hiss.
"To be honest, sometimes I don't really understand it all myself. The world's not a great place for mutants, Magneto seems to be the man to fix that, but other people think they could do the job better, I guess."
"Who knows? Maybe they could. But I haven't heard anyone offer a better plan than Magneto's yet."
Jubilee shrugs. "Neither have I. I'd be dead if it weren't for Magneto, I'm sure of it. I'm not saying I want to then fight the people opposed to him though. I don't think I could fight a mutant. But Genosha, what Magneto has built there, seem slike a dream."
"That's one way of putting it. After the attack last week..." Gambit looks away. The patches on his coat and the fading bruises on his face are enough to obviate that he hasn't exactly had the smoothest last few days. "... We lost a lot of people. And it'll take some time to rebuild. I'm not really good at that sort of thing though, which is why I'm more useful here for now."
"Still, I suppose I could arrange for you to take a tour, if you're really that interested."
Jubilee pauses to wolf down a bit more food, nodding as she does. "I would, of all the things I've learned int he last few days, reading... Genosha is what most interests me. Even if it is so far away."
Mysteriously, his beer is almost gone. One might think that he was specifically waiting until the young woman wasn't watching to take sips. But that would be paranoid. "Nothing's really 'that' far away anymore. Normally, I can make a few calls and get you there in a few hours. It'll take some time though to get you cleared though, security has been tightened up considerably, and even I can't just hand out passports anymore. I mean, I could, but I'm not sure I trust you yet."
Jubilee nods. "No I understand. At least, in a way I do. I understand the logic, but the idea that... well it's just making no sense to me." She then sits back, and resumes eating, figuring it's going to be a bit then. "Well if you can relay to Magneto, maybe he'll clear it. When he gets the chance, I imagine he's even busier here than... the one I knew. As weird as it is to say that, I guss the weapon we stopped... blew me into a whole new and crazy world."
"Well then, I guess I'd better make a call." The Cajun stands up, and polishes off the rest of his can of beer. Tossing the can into the corner of the room in an unapologetic display of littering, he turns to leave. Again.
"Relax for now. Rest up and whatnot. I'll see what they say on Genosha's end, and if they're ready to clear visitor's I'll escort you there myself."
"And if they say no... I guess I'll take you shopping for some new clothes tomorrow."
Jubilee nods "Alright, thanks a lot. I know... I know you only know the other me.. and.. well I don't know what happened to her, maybe the weapon blew her somewhere else. But I don't fight mutants."
"I think you'll find that life takes all manner of crazy twists and turns, p'tite. It's way too early for you to say what you 'don't' do."
With those mysterious parting words, and with a dramatic flourish of his coat, the man walks through the whooshing metal doors and down the hall. It's high time he got back to the command center, and his shift of monitor duty will be more enjoyable now that he's dragging a five-pack of beer with him.
Category:Log