2013.07.26 - Just a List

So, it's just another day at the office. Yeah, sure, Jocelyn had been in a super-powered fight on some tour yesterday, but she was fine now. Of course, her healing ability and the fact that she didn't mention it to her boss probably go a long way towards keeping that cover. Uh-huh. Anyway, Jocelyn is working on filing some paperwork and having some of the bills paid. Boring secretary stuff in a small operation. When you were a secretary in a two person business, you really handled just about all the paperwork and routine, boring stuff. Jocelyn was okay with this, because she otherwise had enough excitement in her life. But it paid well, and she was going to have college expenses soon.
Carmichal, for his part, has been out of the office all day. Until now that is. The front door of the office opens, and he steps in, taking off his fedora, and glancing over to see Jocelyn at her desk working. "Miss Stream...." he says politely "Any calls for me?" he asks moving further into the room, and coming around behind her desk, not in her way exactly, but close. He half sits, half leans against the desk, as he digs out his cigarette case, and pulls out a Lucky, lighting it with his antique zippo, and taking a drag. "By the way, do me a favor, when you get a minute, if you would...and see if you can make an appointment for me with this....Jamie Madrox...X-Factor Investigations." he says "Might do me some good to network with other dicks around the metro, and I hear this guy works out of Staten Island...they're calling it Mutant Town or some jazz..." he says "Could you do that?"
Madrox. There's a flick of recognition in Jocelyn's eyes when John mentions Jamie's name. She knew him. Of course, that may not be a surprise, given Jocelyn really had a penchant for knowing just who to call when John needed something. She nods to John. "I can do that. Any time that's unavailable that you haven't marked on your calendar yet?" Jocelyn questions. John may or may not notice that the smoke from the cigarette never actually gets close to Jocelyn. Her energy powers just zap the kinetic energy and keep it from getting to her.
Of course, Jocelyn didn't know if Jamie had made it publically known he was a mutant, so she wasn't mentioning that bit of it yet. "Mutant Town. I've been there a few times. Things have been a little chaotic there lately, if you can believe the news reports, but that does happen around that area from time to time".
Carmichal grunts noncomittally "Not that I know of...." he says regarding his calander. He was getting the hang of his phone finally, and had even managed to work the app that let him find out about his appointments, and make modifications to them if need be. In the end it was all starting to come together. He was still a 'hunt and peck' style typer, but at least he knew how to turn on his computer, and log into the world wide web. A flat-screen TV had even appeared in his office, and he was known to tune in for news reports on it. He takes another drag off his smoke, and grins "So did I tell you I met that fella from Genosha?" he says "Went down to some open forum he was having and actually exchanged pleasantries with him." he says "What is it he calls himself...Mag...Magnettle or something?" he asks idly, watching her the way he seemed to be watching everything now that he's sort of gotten his legs under him.
In the time they've spent together, Jocelyn, unless she was totally oblivious to body language, might have noticed John had a tendency now that he was no longer in full culture-shock mode to study everything and everyone around him, taking it all in, and missing very few details.
"Magneto," Jocelyn adds. And the reason that Jocelyn doesn't buy that John has forgotten the name is that he does take everything in now, for the most part. "He is very well-spoken, yes. I don't think I quite buy into all of his plans. There's just something about him that rubs me the wrong way. He's too slick. Maybe it's the politician in him that he's showing the world".
And that he and the X-Men don't really see eye-to-eye has nothing at all to do with her opinions. None whatsoever. Really.
"You hadn't mentioned it, no. What sorts of things did you speak with Magneto about, if I might ask?" Jocelyn questions.
"Magneto...that's right." he says smiling. Ok, so there was no snowing his "secretary", he might as well stop trying, but it was in his nature to needle, and probe, more to keep his own skills sharp, and maybe...just maybe pull one over on the pretty young girl. "He liked my hat. Wanted to know where I bought 'em." he says "I made up some cock & bull story about my grandfather having left me several, and offered to give him one. He declined...a shame." he says and then chuckles again as she shares her opinion of the man "Funny...Commissioner Gordon said the same thing....met him too." he says "Need to try and get an appointment with him too if you can...but it's not a high priority. I imagine if I flashed my BCA badge around his station I could get into see him...you know, with my mask on." he says "But I'd rather do it nice and civilian-ee, if I can." he says
"As for Magneto..." he says and shrugs "I've heard it before...Ole Adolf was spewing the same kind of rhetoric before he rolled into Poland." he says "Okay maybe he wasn't so "kind and gentle" in his rhetoric, but it was pretty much the same kind of spiel." he says.
Oh, it was possible to pull one over on Jocelyn, but John was playing a bit in Jocelyn's turf. It gave her certain advantages. "A shame, yeah," Jocelyn agrees. It appears that John's favored style of hat wasn't popular among the people at that party. She makes a note to set up an appointment with Commissioner Gordon as well. "That makes sense. When dealing with a police commissioner, if you can do it without the mask, that's probably best. Though given he's got Batman and that lot prowling Gotham, I suspect he's used to dealing with capes".
Really, any officer in the cities should be used to it by now, Jocelyn figured.
"You weren't around earlier. "Magneto took Genosha by force. Did quite a number on a group known as Humanity First, which is basically an anti-mutant hate group. I can't say I cared much for them, obviously, but his methods are a little too extreme for my taste. Don't trust him, and the man has a lot of power, and a reasonable number of people loyal to him, from what I've seen".
Carmichal's face gives nothing away as to what he knows, or doesn't know as Jocelyn speaks about Genosha. He nods "I'll look it up on that Google thing." he says "One thing I do know, Jocelyn Stream: Never trust a politician, especially one who wants to call himself "Imperator." he says taking another drag off his smoke. "By the way how're all these computer things working for you?" he asks. "Miss Gordon said they should be top of the line, and fast..whatever that means." he says
He stands up then, and turns "Anyway, I need a drink...." he says turning, and stepping toward his office. As he moves a slip of paper falls out of his pocket. He doesn't seem to notice it so intent on getting to his bottle as he walks away. Jocelyn might also have noticed how hard he hits the alcohol when he's not busy with a case, or with educating himself about the modern world (and sometimes even while doing the latter). If Jocelyn picks up the scrap of paper, she will notice it's one of those little notebook pages, probably from the notepad he carries in his pocket. Written in his handwriting are 10 names. She may or may not recognize some of them as mutants. At the bottom of the list is one name, she will most certainly recognize. Kwabena Odame.
"That's sound advice," Jocelyn says. She didn't actually know what Imperator was. She'd Google that as well. Her Detroit education had left her without knowledge of certain archaic terms for leader. "The computers are working pretty well," Jocelyn says. Of course, if Jocelyn knew who Barbara actually was, then she'd guess that the woman would have access to all their files. But she didn't know Barbara and Oracle were one and the same.
When John heads off, Jocelyn shakes her head a little bit at the getting a drink bit. Really, in some ways he was kind of like Logan, except John almost seemed to have a problem with the beer that was dangerous. She came from the streets of Detroit. She knew how to recognize such signs. The teen does reach down and pick up the piece of paper, setting it on the desk without looking at it initially. It isn't for a few minutes and she's shuffling some stacks around that she flips it in the process and notes the name.
Well then. That might be a problem. The girl frowns lightly, but puts the piece of paper back in her pile of Things John Dropped or Misplaced. Then she collects the pile, stands, and walks over towards John's office. She reaches out to knock. "Sir? I have some papers here for you. Some that need your signature, and some that need you to review them". The offending piece of paper is placed on top of the pile, facedown.
Carmichal just takes the papers, and sets them on his desk. "Thanks doll...." he says without thinking, while pouring himself a glass of Scotch out of what appears to be a VERY old bottle, he'd taken from one of his desk drawers. Depending on his state of inebriation when she'd seen him, Jocelyn may also have figured out that John is haunted by something and tends to rely on the alcohol to self medicate. He takes a long slow gulp of his drink then and Ahhhhhs before he returns his attention to the papers. He picks up the top slip, and glances at it, and then glances at her, with one eyebrow raised.
"Where'd you find this?" he asks tilting his head. "I didn't mean for you to see this...." he frowns a bit, and then tucks it into his breast pocket of his shirt. He's removed his coat, and hat, hung them on the hat-tree in his office, and is sitting there in just his shirt, pants, and shoulder rig holster, with his .45 hanging beneath his arm. "So...you got questions, doll....ask 'em." he says "no secrets 'tween us, right?"
"Fell out of your pocket a few minutes ago," Jocelyn responds. "I put it on the top of the pile". Jocelyn shrugs a little. "It's a list of names. I figured it was related to one of your cases. Not sure which one though. I just set it aside and brought it in with the rest". Truthful so far. Omitting some key details, but truthful. "Most of the case details aren't visible to me. Only the parts you choose to share with me. Stuff like client names, or names that I should look out for if they come knocking, things like that".
Carmichal's not buying it entirely, and his eyes show it. "Dollface, you've been my closest friend, and my right hand since I woke up in this time...." he says "if ever you -want- to know about a case, just ask me." he says "I know who you are...I know -what- you are, and I know you saved my bacon when those dag-blasted Dark elves invaded..." he says "if it weren't for you I'd have been cooked and we both know it." he says "As for this list...." he says "It's a case I'm working....a client has asked me to locate these people. They told me they fear for these people's safety, so I took the job." he says "they're all mutants like you...." he says "I didn't want to get you involved in this though, because that would be just rude. I'm not stupid enough to think all mutants know one another anymore than all darkies know one another or all chinks know one another...." he says "But I am curious to know whether or not you know any of the people on this list...it might go a long way to helping me locate them and determine their wellbeing...if not for the client, than for my own peace of mind." he says.
Jocelyn raises her hand up briefly. "Okay, the darkies and chinks? Offensive terms, just as a heads up," Jocelyn points out. "Lots of people will label you a racist and have nothing to do with you if you toss those terms around. Best to toss those terms out of the vocabulary". One of her jobs was to let him know when he was perhaps unwittingly being offensive, and she would continue to do so.
"I know some of them. Some better than others," Jocelyn says. "But you have to understand, we mutants are protective of each other, mostly because some powerful individuals have, in the past, made some vary nasty weapons that target only mutants. Also, the racism we get tends to do that". Jocelyn pauses. "So I need to know some details as to why you want to know about them and why you need to locate them. I'd also like to know the client, though I know that's going to go against your instincts. But mutants have enemies, and I don't want to turn over some individuals to an enemy unwittingly".
Carmichal listens, though his face belies no emotion whatsoever as she corrects his vocabulary "Check. Darkies...okay to call them colored?" he asks "And Chinks...Orientals?" he asks. I mean the only other words for those two ethnic groups were racial slurs in his time, he has no idea what to call them now. As she speaks about mutants protecting each other, he nods "I get it...I get it..." he says holding a hand up to calm her.
"The client has asked to remain anonymous. I can tell you, if you -really- feel that strongly about it, but in doing so I'm breaking the client's confidentiality." he says. He omits that he'd already done that by submitting a report to SHIELD already concerning this case, and the client specifically. "I won't lie to you, Jocelyn, but I'd really rather not answer -that- particular question, for the record. As for why I need to locate them, the reasons are twofold. 1: The client has asked me to, as I just told you, because the client fears for their safety...at least that's their story. 2: *I* want to locate them because the client seems -very- keen on locating them, and when someone is -that- interested in someone else's location, it usually means the person searching either has very -good- news for the person, or doesn't necessarily mean them well. And if that's the case, I'd very much like to be able to lend these people a hand in avoiding any sort of trouble." he says, and in that he's completely sincere.
In their time together, one thing has become perfectly obvious about John Carmichal as a man. He was -totally- committed to helping people, and while he might play fast in loose with the 'law' as it were, the wellfare of others was not something he took lightly. She might also have noticed, in conversations during training, or just around the office, that in spite of his offensive language, and word usage, he was pretty much the antithesis of what that language, and those words implied. He was tolerant, and sincerely cared about people equally, which was a lot more than he generally let on.
"African-American for the first is the politically correct term. Asian is good general term for the latter, though the preference is to use the actual nationality if you know it". Since that section of the world had a number of nationalities that Americans had a bad tendency to lump together.
The woman listens to John's explanation. She'd spent enough time with the X-Men to know how to play this game to some degree, but John had way more experience than Jocelyn did, honestly. "Fair enough. Most of these won't be too hard to track down anyway. Ask around Mutant Town and you'll probably be able to set up meetings with most of them anyway, but I'm sure you had planned on something of that nature".
The girl scans the list in her mind. "The one on the top, however...he's a good friend of mine. Recently fallen a bit off the map. Don't know exactly where he's holed up now, I'm afraid". What with Shift leaving the X-Men, Jocelyn could only make some guesses. Mind you, they'd be pretty good guesses, and she feels like if she had to, she could probably get a message to Shift through some underworld contacts.
Carmichal's face screws up into a sour look that made him look like he'd just bitten into a piece of chocolate cake, that actually tasted like a mixture of dill pickles, lemons, and someone's dirty sock. "African-Americans....." he says and then just looks at her incredulously. "You have got to be pulling my chain." he says shaking his head. "Colored people in this day and age are no more african than I am Scottish, Norwegian, and Swedish. Does that make me a Scottish-Norwegian-Swedish American?" he asks. It might sound trite, but he's serious. The idea of politically correct language is foreign to him, and likely to be met with incredulity regardless. "Asian I can deal with...I guess.." he says and shakes his head "African-American. So what do we call the white people who move here from Africa?" he asks.
As for the mutants on the list, he nods "Well, that's why I wanted to get in touch with Madrox. Mutant Town is his stomping grounds, I figured he might already know a few of these people." he says and then she mentions being friends with Odame. "You know him?" he says those eyes focussing again, like the trained investigator he was "What can you tell me about the fella?" he says
"That's the term for their nationality". Jocelyn shrugs a little. "I've pretty much grown up with it. And heard most of the other, less correct terms. "And no. Mostly the political correct terms are only used for non-whites. Whites, by the way, are caucasian in the politically correct language, if you ever have to fill out some form with that question," Jocelyn adds. Just so John knew. "I'll print you out a list later". As it was something John might need to know for his profiling.
"He probably does, or knows where to find them," Jocelyn says. "If that's where his place is set up". The girl shrugs a little bit. "He's a good man. Has a fairly harsh reputation in some quarters, but he makes things better for people". She wasn't going to give away powers or anything like that. That would have to come from someone else. "There's a lot I can't tell you, if only because he is a private person, and a lot of it was told to me in confidence". Though unfortunately, part of what she didn't know was where he'd gone.
Carmichal looks skeptical about this list of 'politically correct terms'. Anything with the word 'political' in it was probably horse-hockey anyway. He nods to her though. No sense in making a thing out of it.
"Ok, so he's hardboiled..." he says "And I respect that. This mug's your friend, and you wanna look out for him." he says "I'd hope you'd do the same for me in a similar situation." he says going quiet for a moment as he thinks, and then shakes his head. "Siddown doll..." he says "Having you hovering over me like this makes me nervous...." he smirks "only because I know what you could do to me if you were so inclined." he says with a chuckle. He'd actually FELT her punches, even when she was 'pulling punches' with him as he knew she was, it hurt, and he'd seen what she could do when she -wasn't- pulling her punches.
"Alright, is he the sort of fella who can look after himself? I mean if he got himself into a tough spot, how resourceful would you say he is?" he asks. "The client said they were worried some of these people might be held captive. If he's been captured, it'd give me an idea of just how heavy things could be." he says
Jocelyn takes a seat. "He can take care of himself. He's very resourceful. Holding him captive would be very difficult. You'd have an easier time holding me captive than holding Odame captive," Jocelyn tells John. Which should give the man some idea of what Kwabena's abilities are capable of. "I wouldn't worry about him being held captive by most people. It'd take someone with a lot of power and a lot of specific knowledge to keep him from getting away, if he so chose to". Kwabena had grown a lot in his skills.
Carmichal grins. "Yeah I don't know if I'd want to try and keep you captive. But then if someone tried to put you in a cage, I'd just come in and pull you out. I'm not a fan of cages." he says "I saw Auschwitz when it was still occupied by Jews." he says with a frown. "Alright, well, I'll save my nosing around for him for last then." he says "He sounds like he's not gonna be easy to track anyway....." he pauses then and gazes at her meaningfully "If I manage to track his whereabouts do you want to know?" he asks. "I mean this fella is your friend...." he says
"Yeah," Jocelyn says. "If you find Kwabena, let me know". Jocelyn wanted to know what Kwabena was up to, now that he'd left the team. She was still feeling a bit betrayed by that. "I should get back to the paperwork. Let me know if you need anything else," the woman says. If excused, she'll go and deal with the paperwork.
Category:Log