The mate to a key and lips to a secret.

[enigmaestro]

WHO: SKRULLOCK HOLMES, TONY STARK, EDWARD NYGMA, NORMAN OSBORN, DR. JOHN ZOIDBERG and YOU!
WHERE: The Quarantine Room.
WHEN: February 22nd (evening) to February 24th (afternoon).
WARNINGS: None necessarily? Bickering doesn't merit a warning.
SUMMARY: Skrulls in the dungeon. Well, one anyway.
FORMAT: I'll introduce the setting in paragraph, but you choose what format you prefer.


The area for the quarantined is spacious and clean. Although technically under police custody, the room is established in a large auditorium of City Hall. There are five walled 'dividers' that offer the quarantined the semblance of privacy. Never mind that every inch of the room is taped on camera -- cameras that Mitchell Hundred can control with a word. Never mind that there are armed guards on the other wise of each exit. Never mind that the communicators of the quarantined have been disabled from encryption capabilities.

They were allowed a bed. Access to any bathroom was to be monitored. Meals would be provided. They were handcuffed but not leglocked. If any of the number disagreed with their situation, heavier imprisonment was negotiable.

The quarantined were to be questioned by those in authority, or those who were experts on Skrull detection. Or those who thought they were.

ooc || begin a thread with your character name in the heading. anyone can tag into your thread, including other quarantined individuals.

Comments

[dragony]

Ruka held his gaze for a moment longer, but it could not be sustained. She turned her face to the side. "If you mean the other ImPorts, they'll fight. Even when they don't have to, or when they shouldn't be at all. Even if fighting will just make it worse. It's the easier path for them." Year after year she'd seen it, and time and again Ruka felt that the conflicts and violence unnecessary. More than that, they frequently just made situations worse, and no matter how many times it happened, they never seemed to learn. Monsters and aliens and others came through, again and again, to be shocked and horrified by the actions of humans; for Ruka, who had always served as the bridge between the two, was never able to justify the path of her comrades.

Often, it could not be justified.

"But for me... I'm not a 'hero,' or a 'warrior,' or anything like that. I hate conflict and battle. There's already suffering enough. How could I bring myself to add to that?"

Emotions were muddled in her heart, and it showed in her face; the weakness of her heart was exposed, the weary fatigue of conflict. For the first time, her voice wavered. But only for a moment. As she pressed on, it steadied, until finally looking back up to meet his gaze.

"I can't. But I can't let it happen, either. This is not be my world, and every person here I care for will abandon me, but it's my duty to protect them, protect anyone who needs it. Even if my heart gives out, or my body breaks. It doesn't matter what happens to me." Not even the hint of a waver in her tone; her expression was unyielding. "I'm not a sword. I'm a shield. That's my resolve."

Her eye was fixed on his face. "Is there really no other path than fighting?"

[alldeduction]

He turned his head as he listened, attentive but without watching her, leaning up against the divider and tap-tap-tapping the edge of the handcuffs against the glass.

"You humans have an interesting theory," He said finally, evenly, "About survival instincts. That given a predator - given a risk- you will naturally choose one of two options. Fight, or Flight."

His eyes finally met hers, his face stony.

"When only one of the two options exist, only one of the two options can be taken."

"And I don't have wings."

[dragony]

"It's a flawed theory." Her attention turns down, eye closed for the brief thought. "They may be instincts, but they're never the only options."

Her hand, fingers curled, pressed against the glass.

"I wish we could have given you wings."