2013-01-22 Two unconscious dupes

It's been a day and the victims, there are two, are in stable condition. Their injuries were severe, but have been stabilized. They are unconscious.
Cyclops peers over the face of one of them, and looks at the other from the bedside. "It's remarkable. They are exact replicas. Everything." He checks a readout, but isn't sure what to make of it.
"Hank? What have you got?"
Beast glances up from his work examining the two John Does (or Jaime Madroxes if they came with I.D.), his body hunched over blood cultures and genetic scans. Exact replicas isn't even the half of it... even twins have minor differences that can be detected. "What have I got?"
Hank turns around to look at Scott, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "A astounding intellect. A face only a mother could love. And a rantastic singing voice. But I assume you're wondering about Arnold and Danny here." Twins refrence... so sue him. "They give Dolly the Sheep a run for the money. It's like you put someone in a genetic zerox machine."
Beast hops up from his stool and approaches the two patience, checking their vitals and offering a frustrated rumble. He doesn't like a mystery. "They're X-Gene active though. Of course, I'm uncertain as to the nature of their powers until they awaken."
Having the ability to access knowledge from the dupes can help a lot. Jamie got a good look at stuff through their minds before they were KOed. Plus years ago Madrox was actually invited to join the School by Professor X. He had the smarts the turn the guy down then. But the hive mind and that knowledge plus the fact that he is a detective dang it, have allowed him to track down where his dupes were taken to. Seriously why the heck did the guy take them, some people are just strange and stuff like that.
As for the dupes in the Mansion they are still KOed and there is no ID on them or anything. Powers duplicate clothes and everything else, yet the wallet that can't be duplicated. Funny how that works now doesn't it.
As for Jamie Prime, he decided to do this trek by himself. So he comes up to the mansion and rings the bell on the gate. And yeah he calls out in case there is an intercom or something like that, "Hey I think you guys have something that belongs to be in there." And then Jamie waits, patiently to see who shows up.
"What," Logan begins after cracking the mansion's doors wide enough to give the visitor little more than a peek at the lovely foyer behind him. The small, hairy man is dressed in a tanktop and jeans, with a mostly full bottle of beer in his left hand. "you lose a ball or somethin'? Tough breaks, kid; mine now. You know how it goes." After chuckling quietly to himself, he steps back to take a swig from his bottle and starts to slowly nudge the door shut, keeping a curious and somewhat cautious eye on Madrox the whole time.
Cyclops nods to Beast. "Fair enough." He folds his arms across his chest, leans back and looks back at them. For a moment it seems he's satisfied to be patient. But Scott Summers is never patient about things he cannot control. "Do you have any idea when that might be?"
"I've been reluctant to awaken them... at least until I have more answers about them. You know how much I hate unanswered questions." Hank leans into one of them, grabbing a penlight and gently opening one of it's eyes. Shining the light in and then waving it back and forth. "If you want me to... I'm willing to try to bring one of them around. But I think you might want to be the first thing he sees when he wakes up. I'm not exactly Prince Charming for most Snow Whites." Hank waits for Scott's go ahead to try to awaken one.
Madrox does what any person would do, he blocks the door with his foot. And the impact of it shutting is enough to create a dupe on the other side. "You have two of my dupes inside. I would like to go and retrieve them if that is possible." Both the dupe and Madrox say that at once. "I know they were taken here. I would just like to get them back." Now both dupes stand there looking at Logan.
Logan nearly chokes on his beer when the dupe appears beside him--before it speaks, even. The instantaneous appearance of a whole new person - one that breathes like Madrox, smells like him - is jarring, to say the least. He is frowning as he slowly lowers the bottle and drags his other arm across his mouth, studying the two identical men all the while.
Finally - after shaking a little excess beer free from his hand - he takes a step sideways to trigger the Institute's intercom system.
"Bet I know what the John Does' powers are," he transmits to Scott and Hank in the medical lab with a taunting edge. "On my way down."
Without waiting, he steps away from the intercom, gestures towards Madrox Prime - at least, he /assumes/ it's Madrox Prime, because that's the one still standing outside - and mutters, "Inside; eyes shut." Beat. "Both'a you. We'll get you your... yous."
And assuming that the Madri comply, Logan will do just that, leading them through a series of hallways until they're on an elevator leading down into the X-Men's underground complex.
"You hate unanswered questions about as much as I hate things outside my control." Cyclops repositions his arms over his body and snorts. "Your problem, Hank, is that you don't have these cool shades."
He motions towards the dupes, "Do it."
As the intercom buzzes through the controlled circuit line, Cyclops turns towards Hank and raises his eyebrows.
"Touche." Beast offers to Scott's comment about his cool shades. Of course, Logan's voice interrupts his preperations to try to awaken one of the Dupes. A brow quirking slightly at the Clawed Canuck's words. "I've already ruled out Beer Control. But please join us down below and enlighten us. I was just attempting to awaken Sleeping Beauty #1."
The Madri had followed Logan to the lap, and when they get there Madrox Prime just looks at you. "Do you often take away people from crime scenes without letting others know where you are taking them?" Hey Scott didn't know they were Dupes, so he could have let Jamie know where he was taking them dang it. "But if you have questions for them, I could perhaps answer them. After I take care of the business that I came here to do of course." He looks between Beast and Scott, back to Beast. "Guess I can introduce myself. I am Jamie Madrox."
Logan follows Jamie Prime's spiel with just one word of his own, delivered as he looks between his teammates with a smirk that's barely obscured behind the neck of his beer bottle:
"Duplication."
With that, he takes a step back to let them hash things out and takes another sip from his beer.
Cyclops mouth parts, with almost a hint of irritation. He looks to Logan, then to Beast as Jamie speaks. He responds simply and curtly, "When people need medical attention....Jamie...I help them." He looks to Jamie, a spitting image of the two who lay on the beds just as Logan gives his punchline. "I'm sure we'll have a few questions, yes."
"It's kind of what we do... comes with the super tights." Beast offers to their visitor, gesturing to his two comatose copies. "Would you have preferred they left them unconscious where they found them. I'm sure someone with less noble ideals would love to get their hands on an X-Gene that spits out copies." Hank offers in note. "So I think the words you're looking for is... 'Thank You'." Beast glances between Madrox Prime and his dupes. "I assume if you're here to claim them, you're capable of reintigration as well. So rather than continuing to waste valuable bedspace... perhaps you could make with the Sponge." Yeah, he's a little annoyed. One by Logan finding out what they could do before he did. And also by Jaime's annoyance that they were trying to help his dupes. "Now now Cyke... we have guests. Perhaps you can handle introductions?"
Jamie Prime walks over and lays hands on his two dupes, absorbing the two of them that were in the coma. "Or I could have just reabsorbed them after the fight. I was more worried about the people in the van, and I knew that the wounds would be okay over time." Hey he even had a dupe spend time as an ER nurse, so he knows things like that! "He still could have at least said, 'Hey we are taking them to this address.' If I wasn't a detective may not have found my dupes." He walks back to his other dupe and reabsorbs that one as well. He doesn't need that one anymore. Once that one is done he does look between Beast and Scott one more time. Mental note if they ever come to him for investigating stuff, they get charged double.
As Jamie thanks his detective skills, Logan shoots Scott a /look/. A 'we should probably double-check our security protocols if some mutant detective found us just like that' look.
One might think it difficult to convey so much with just a look, but Logan is an expert at giving Scott shit in all sorts of ways--including non-verbally.
"Might wanna have a talk, later, about how you found your way here," he says aloud as he turns his eyes towards Jamie Prime. His brow is arched, but he keeps his tone light--conversational.
"Hey." Scott says dryly to Jamie. "We are taking them to this address." Scott exhales and looks at Beast, "Gentlemen, this is Jamie." He looks back to Jamie, "Now obviously if I know they were dupes, as you say, I would not have brought them here to help save them."
Beast chuckles just a bit at Cyclops... "I mean introduce us. I wasn't sure which protocal we were running with. I assume codenames? Not like it matters for myself of course. I'm just as loveable in either alter ego." Beast steps forward and offers his hand to Jaime. "Beast." He'll go with codenames. Only cause he likes to keep Dr. Henry McCoy's association with the school on the downlow. Even if that persona is kinda off the grid since his change. "Welcome to the Honeycomb hideout. Sorry for my surly bedside manner regarding your dupes. I've been babysitting them since they arrived."
Jamie starts to pace around the room, as he does so he answers Logan's question. "Easy, I share the knowledge with my dupes. I knew what direct they were headed at, and what they saw around them. Before they slipped into the coma that was. From there I was able to send out more of my dupes to scout the areas around where they were heading. And it also helps that years ago some bald guy invited me to this "school". I decided back then that it wasn't right for me. But I still remembered it, so I took a chance and came here. And I got lucky in that regard because my dupes were here." As he walks he accidently bumps into something. And because he's not focusing he makes another dupe.
Jamie #2 looks at Jamie Prime and just starts talking to him like a mother would, "How dare you be rude to these two men! They had no idea what your power was, that you could just reabsorb us at will. They were just trying to help us, now stop being such a fool and apologize to them!" See that's what happens when those rogue dupes sometimes come out. At last this was a semi-nice one, could you imagine if there was a mean one that came out. But anyway after the lecture from well himself Jamie sighs and well just says, "Sorry. I was a little rude to you guys." He pauses and corrects himself, "Very rude to you I should say."
"They're big boys," Logan lowly assures Jamie, concealing another smirk by sipping from his beer, "They can take it." After raising his bottle to the three--/four/ men, he turns to take his leave. "Anyway; I'll leave you gents to it. Business t' tend to," he says in parting before bringing the bottle back to his lips to empty it.
"Apology accepted," Cyclops responds with a nod. Immediately everything seems like water under the bridge. He'd thought he'd read of this power set somewhere in his research, but he'd researched so many mutants sometimes things blur together. Now that Jamie was coming down off the mountain, Scott seems to act similarly. "I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. I just saw what was in front of me and diagnosed it. Just tried to make a play."
"Save me a beer later... I could use one. And you at least have good taste in beer." Hank's been meaning to kinda spend more time with Logan. Especially since he's still a bit sorry about nearly ripping his throat out a few months back. Hank turns his focus back to Madrox and hrms, thinking a bit about the most current Dupe model. "I see that they're rather independant of the whole. Fascinating. I'd assume sometimes they manifest with different dominant traits?" Yeah, that's why he gets paid the big bucks down here.
He sighs at his own dupe, and reabsorbs that one back into him. This time he did it without touching the dupe. "I understand. It was a hectic time tough to gather the information from the scene." Now he goes over to Beast, "Sometimes they are independent. Most of the time we can focus on tasks together. But they do have their own little personality traits. Most of thet time they are traits that I have that aren't dominant."
Cyclops nods to Jamie, "So, the Professor tried to recruit you before? What made you say no? How long ago did it happen?"
"Remarkable. It's like having an extra pair of hands whenever you need it. How many are you capable of spitting out? And I see you don't have to touch them to reabsorb them. Given you didn't do that from the front door, what's the distance limitation on that." And then Hank realizes he's rambling and slips off his labcoat. "Forgive me. I'm just always excited to see a unique mutation I haven't encountered yet. But I'll hush... and echo Scott's question."
"My parents just died and well I wasn't sure what I wanted to do yet. But felt wrong leaving the farm I grew up on so turned them down. He later helped me get a job and even helped send a dupe to school for me." After that he just looks at Beast, "And I thought the detective was supposed the be the noisy one. I need to be within 50 feet of them. And I also need to see them to do it as well. It was a little trick I learned from a dupe who studied at a shoalin temple."
Scott nods, "Well, I'm sorry that you didn't take the Professor up on the offer. As for now, it seems that you've got your dupes back, but I'd really like the opportunity to speak to you again, if you'd be so willing."
Beast glances between Scott and Jaime. "Perhaps I'll catch up with Wolvers. I'll leave you two to talk." Hank claps Scott on the back. "The coffee is fresh, so feel free to chit chat over a cup. And I'm sure you know where my Twinkie supply is."
Jamie reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out his business card. "Here is my office number. You can reach me there, I live in the apartments upstairs from the office." Thank you Game Show appearance, let him do that one. "But for now I must get going. I do have another client to do some work for."
Scott chuckles at Hank, "I wouldn't touch one of those things with your tongue." He is referencing the twinkies. Scott's kind of a health nut. "I'll show you out, Jamie."
Category:Logs
Category:RPLogs