capeandcowllogs | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

WHO: Boyd and Midii
WHERE: Rossum HQ
WHEN: 9:00 AM Monday, August 13th
WARNINGS: None
SUMMARY: Boyd sets up some tests to help Midii train and evaluate her empathy powers.
FORMAT: para

Promptly at nine o'clock Boyd's limo pulled up in front of Midii's building. In the back Boyd himself waited patiently despite his excitement. Today's tests had the potential to shed a lot of light on not only Midii's abilities, but those curious colors she'd seen at city hall. Also and more importantly he'd finally be able to determine if people with powers like hers could sense someone who had been imprinted as being different from a normal person. If she could, then he'd have to adjust many of his plans. If not, it opened up the possibility of expanding their deployment and uses. Deployments against Vulcanus for example, or maybe imprinting a senator.

It all made him anxious enough that he had to make an effort to remind himself to stay calm. He couldn't rush Midii. He'd simply have to take today as it came. After all he waited for Echo to become what she did, so he could certainly wait however long it took Midii to understand her abilities.

He just hoped it wouldn't be too long.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Midii was only vaguely aware of Boyd's inner thoughts, and the motives behind his wanting to help her. She had no doubt that there were some good intentions--he had proven himself trustworthy in her eyes, after all. But she also wasn't naive. Today could really help her...or, at worst, prove a waste of a morning.

One thing she knew for certain was that he was anxious. Anxiety was a familiar emotion. A strange blend of sea green. Not quite jealousy, but still unpleasant. Nearly everyone in the city had experienced it at some point. It was a shame, too, because Midii had always liked the color green. Maybe she was just used to it.

"Good morning," she greeted the man as she slid into the car seat.

As Midii slipped into the car Boyd pushed aside his concerns and turned to her, smiling. Even without her powers she was an observant girl and he didn't want her to think he felt anything, but confident about today. "Good morning! Feeling prepared?"

"Yes, sir."

Even false confidence in adults was a comfort to her, because it meant they cared enough to pretend for her sake. And, once again, Midii was less concerned about the results of today's experiment than he was.

"You look...blue-green." Still working on the interpretation, because it differed with each person. However... "Max is often that color." In other words, a compliment.

"She does, does she? I'll take it as a good thing then." Leaning forward Boyd pushed a button on a console next to him, instructing the driver they were ready to leave. "How does she feel about this? We didn't get to speak about it."

"She wished me luck, told me to be home in time for dinner, and that if there were any problems, to contact her immediately." All in all, it seemed like a pretty fair deal to her. "She also said she is to be told of everything that happens today in exchange for her consent."

"We'll be recording everything. I'll have a copy ready to be sent home with you." It wasn't surprising she'd ask for that and in a way it he was glad she did. It showed how seriously her concern for Midii was, even with someone like himself who was apparently trusted. "It probably won't be very exciting for to watch though. You'll be looking at various employees of mine through a one way glass and we'll be noting down what you see. We'll have their details down in another room and afterward we'll compare and see if we can find any correlation between the colors and what they were thinking, or feeling."

She nodded, the information not outwardly affecting her one way or the other.

"If anything, that sounds safer than day-to-day life on the street."

"I'd hope so. We've actually been beefing up security since a couple of months before the most recent attack on the city. Considering how severe it was I'm glad I did." It certainly paid off having his troops on standby after the Doctor's location was announced. All that tech sitting there. He couldn't let it go to waste.

One of the reasons Max was so willing to let her go.

"I am almost sorry I was not around to see it," she half-joked.

"With what happened with Blue Sky I think I would have been less worried if you had been." Now that it was under his control though that wouldn't happen again. Still, maybe he would have to hire some more mercs and assign them permanently to guard the evacuations just to be safe.

Her smile faded.

"This is true. I was fortunate in that my escape route was private. There was only me, whereas they seem more likely to target larger groups at one time."

"You made the right call. They wouldn't have wasted their time chasing one person." Hopefully anyone else that invaded the city in the future would continue with that sort of battleplan. They'd be in a much more difficult situation if someone thought about it for a minute and tried to bring focused force down on only a few imports at a time.

"So Max didn't go with you?"

"No. She stayed behind."

Boyd frowned. This was a somewhat unexpected piece of news and one he made sure to file away in his mind for later reference. "I would have thought she'd have wanted to escort you all the way out of the city"

"Out of the City, yes, but once I was beyond the borders, she returned." There was a casual shrug, and even a sad smile behind her words. "It was Pink who oversaw my safe departure and return. He had even taken me to see a concert before...he was imprisoned."

Boyd nodded slowly. Pinkerton had done a lot of good before he threw it all away. "At least he didn't completely forget himself. Maybe Mr. Stardust was right about him being confused."

"I think it was more than just that. He was confused, but for some reason, also left to believe he did not have a choice."

It was hard to explain exactly why she understood and even forgave him, despite the lingering bad taste the whole thing left in her mouth. But she had, and now that he was gone, she still missed him. Pink had been so kind to her, after all. Bringing her music. Talking about her problems. She'd once told him he was a better person than he thought he was. She still believed it.

"Going back, even knowing what I know now, I would still have trusted him to keep me safe."

He looked away and out the window as the limo pulled up to Rossum HQ. "People can do awful things if they think they don't have a choice. Endangering some people even while they try to protect those they care about."

The Dollhouse, Rossum. All of it a means to an inevitable end. What he hadn't planned on was the people he cared about rejecting what he done to keep them safe and then killing him for it. Maybe he did have that in common with Pinkerton, but he didn't like it.

"...I know."

Did she ever.

Stepping out he held open the door for her and tried to smile again. He couldn't quite manage it, something of a first for him. "Let's try not to think about that right now, alright? We need you focused for the test."

Midii was a little used to putting on smiles for people; it was small, but appeared genuine.

"Right. I shall remember to keep my mind clear and focused." She pulled herself out of the limousine, staring up at the building. "Which floor are we going to?"

Boyd glanced up at his building for a moment and then began to walk as he spoke. "The fifteenth floor. We already have some rooms there used for observation and they've been made ready. There will be a one way mirror that we'll be using. You'll see them, they won't see you. We'll bring in some employees experiencing different emotional states. We'll even provoke a few of those states, tell one he's fired for example, but don't worry it will only be for the test. I promise."

Midii gave a quiet nod in understanding, following Boyd inside. As long as nobody was being physically tortured, she didn't particularly object to a bit of manipulation. It was the only way to guarantee genuine emotions out of the test subjects, after all.

Boyd continued to walk in silence as they passed the uniformed GPS guards at the door until he stopped in front of the executive elevator, being held open for them. "After you. The first subjects are already waiting."

She entered the elevator, eyes glossing over every detail in case she ever needed to navigate herself in the future.

"How much do they know about what we are doing?"