by the glimmer of the half-extinguished light

[lifeskills]

Who: Victor Frankenstein (lifeskills) and Wanda Maximoff (mindbend).
Where: Outside Abel.
When: August 9th.
Rating: PG-13, allowing for the usual zombie-related blood and guts.
Summary: A zombie event means reanimated corpses, and reanimated corpses means a couple of doe-eyed weirdos can't help but be curious. Victorian Mulder and Sokovian Scully go poking around.
The Story:



<sub>[The only mission that spurs Victor outside the settlement and into a world decimated by a plague that doesn't even exist in his own reality is a mission he sets for himself--to learn more about the Grey Plague for his own knowledge.

A contagion that retains the body's base functions long after death? It's almost too miraculous to be true--and yet when the creatures veer too close to the walls, he can hear it's true, and when he watches their jerky movements from on high, he can see it's true.

The only left to do is get closer and find out for himself what he can't learn at a distance.

Against better judgement, Victor can't resist slipping out past the gates, interest winning out over discomfort at being exposed. There are plenty of dead specimens left to lie in the sun, even just within eyesight of the outer walls, and Victor's iron-clad stomach gives him no issue when he gets close enough to practically feel the rotting-sweet smell in his nostrils. The living are worth fearing, not the dead.

He examines his first two--one with a bullet wound through the eye, the other with a caved-in skull--carefully, stopping to fill a few jars with samples and put them away again in the medical bag he carries, wiping his hands sort of clean with a rag.

Don't supposed it'd be easy to transport a whole body inside the township composed of a bunch of nervous people, would it?]</sub>

Comments

[mindbend]

[Wanda's excuse for venturing beyond the walls is nothing so good as science. She follows orders when it suits her, when she feels it serves a purpose, but this ordeal was something she was not content to sit still for. Even without her powers to protect herself, the curiosity was almost overwhelming-- the need to see exactly what it was that had everyone so scared and hiding behind concrete walls, to see what had made her insist that both Billy and Tommy stay put and out of harm's way.

Curiosity alone wasn't quite enough to make her go investigate without giving the matter further thought-- but seeing someone who appeared to be a civilian slip through the gates, apparently unarmed? Reason for concern, and all the push she needed to follow, though not without seizing something to defend herself with: a length of old water pipe would be good enough to crack a zombie over the head with if they came too close.

She follows at a respectable distance, only closing in once he's stooped down to-- what, take bits and pieces for himself?]

I know rations are scare, but I did not think anyone was that desperate.

[It's a joke.

Mostly.]

[lifeskills]

<sub>[He isn't aware he's not alone until Wanda says something; straightening up from the body, he feels a mild surprise at finding a young woman approaching with a length of pipe in her hands.

She speaks--clearest indicator she's not one of the hungry, underdeveloped cannibals.

Victor has enough of a survival instinct to be embarrassed he hadn't heard her coming. "Mild surprise" is, perhaps, not the situational awareness one should have when it could have very well been a zombie in her place.]</sub>

They're not for food.

_{[Despite being caught unawares, Victor loses very little time protesting his "desperation."]}

I'm a doctor and they're for studying. _{[He trades looks with her.]} What are you doing?

_{[He knows why he's here.]}

[mindbend]

[She manages half a smile, amused.]

I hadn't thought so.

[Not really, although she might have enjoyed his reaction just a bit too much, offended as it was.]

I was concerned about a civilian venturing past the gates without protection, or so it appeared from the lookout.

[She gestures to him as well as the nearest corpse, eyebrow raised.]

If I had been one of them, what would you have done?

[lifeskills]

<sub>[Taking the high road, Victor decides not to immediately ask why, then, she was following him around and interrupting him if she hadn't thought so. The high road might also have something to do with ignoring his own recklessness.

Recklessness she points out, to his regret.]</sub>

You don't appear to be a part of any military.

_{[Victor deflects her first remark well enough with a deadpan retort of his own, but the question makes his fingers tighten around the bag's handle. If she'd been one of those predatory things--]}

You aren't. _{[So why worry about "what if"s?]} And though it's considerate of you to be concerned, I don't need to be followed.

[mindbend]

I am not military.

[Her voice darkens a shade as she confirms that, the last word said with some degree of disgust-- the military had never done anything for Sokovia other than reduce the better part of it to ruins.]

I am an Avenger.

[She was new, yes, but she had still been charged with a certain degree of responsibility as a member of the team, and even in Wonderland, she was being held to that standard, expected to act as a representative of the team and what it stood for.]

I might have been. [A zombie could have approached him just as she had, she's sure, though perhaps a bit more slowly.] No one should be outside the walls without taking the proper precautions. Do you even have a weapon?

[lifeskills]

_{[Tit for tat. He's not overly fond of being termed a "civilian" on his part--it all sounds too heavy-handed and militarized to him. To say nothing of the way being termed a non-combatant in her tone of voice makes him sound like an errant child who's wandered away from his parent.]}

That means nothing to me.

<sub>[He says this honestly and without judgement. Having no idea what an Avenger is supposed to be, he's not beholden to obey one, and she's not required to act the part for him, though her continuing to question his judgement (or lack thereof) nettles a distant part of him that agrees with her.

Averting his gaze briefly, Victor avoids answering the question, a silence that says enough of what it needs to. He isn't carrying a weapon, in fact, but he hadn't exactly been prepared to end up in the middle of this. Borrowing a weapon he wouldn't know how to use had just seemed... wasteful.]</sub>

I am taking precautions. I'm not planning on going far enough that I'll need one.

_{[No one said they were foolproof precautions.]}

[mindbend]

Whether it means anything to you or not, that does not change what I have been charged with.

[A responsibility to look out for those around them, whether they ask for assistance or not. Without her powers, she's at a serious disadvantage, but she can still make good use of her common sense and dole out advice-- such as not to leave the encampment unarmed.]

Far enough? The zombies do not pay attention to borders, there are no invisible lines they cannot cross.

[There is no 'far enough,' as far as she's concerned.]

Anything beyond the walls is dangerous.

[lifeskills]

That charge is protection, I take it? Guard duty? A charitable labor. I appreciate the risk it takes to guard the town and the people in it as things are, but don't consider me one of them. I'm not your responsibility.

_{[Unknowingly, Victor dashes the very points Wanda's made to herself, matter-of-fact in his answer.]}

I'm here at my own discretion, and I accept the danger. But thank you.

_{[Satisfied? He's of sound mind, and he's absolving her of responsibility, she can go now.]}

[mindbend]

What makes you so different from everyone else within the camp? We are all flesh and blood, all susceptible to this disease if one of the undead catches up with one of us.

[She recognizes that he doesn't seem to think he needs any looking after, but she'd like to know what makes him so special. She might not have her powers, but even without her hex energy at her disposal, she's combat ready if she needs to be.]

Or does danger truly mean so little to you?

[Nope. Not satisfied.]

[lifeskills]

_{[Not different, driven.]}

I told you, I'm studying the remains. This virus isn't my field, but no one else can do what I do. You can avenge whatever it is you avenge, and I can make best use of my time--we're both doing what we're suited for.

<sub>[If the choice is either wait behind the township's walls and do nothing, or take a risk and learn more about these foes, he knows what he'd rather be doing, what he's compelled to do.

Victor turns away, scanning the area for a sign of where he ought to head next.]</sub>

Some things are more important than the danger involved.

_{[So yes, perhaps in the face of the reward danger does mean less to him.]}

[mindbend]

You think you'll find a cure from taking samples?

[It's something of a leap, but there's skepticism in her voice nonetheless-- their equipment here is limited, as far as medical operations are concerned, which means opportunities to study are similarly few. Even if this is what he does best-- is it worth the risk?

She frowns, hands coming to rest against her hips.]

You could be risking infection right now. We don't know if it can still be passed on once the carriers are-- inanimate.

[You know. Double-dead.]

[lifeskills]

<sub>[Well, now someone is just plain overstepping. Victor turns back to face her, a bold-faced challenge written all over his otherwise placid expression.

Please, do enlighten him, miss.]</sub>

And you would know so much about infectious diseases? Funny you should fail to mention you're an expert until now.

[mindbend]

This isn't just any disease. No one is an expert on it.

[Including him, even with his fancy degree and title. Her expression darkens, forehead creased as she frowns, brow furrowed.]

I realize study is the best way to change that, but we will not be here long enough for that to matter. Keeping it from spreading and infecting others while we are here, however, still does. People turn quickly. We cannot afford the risk.

[She might be particularly stubborn about that, considering her own sons are within those walls.]

[lifeskills]

_{[He sighs. This is pointless. She's not capable of understanding the intellectual value of what's right in front of them.]}

Think what you like. We can agree time is short and I won't waste more of it in debate.

_{[With that, Victor resumes deciding what direction to go. East, maybe. He adjusts his grip on his bag and starts that way, giving the young woman a brief glance from underneath the fringe of his hair.]}

Good day.

_{[In civilized society, that means "discussion over, don't follow me."]}

[mindbend]

[Unfortunately, Wanda has little experience with civilized society, and even if she had-- their current environment and the task she's been charged with are enough to have her huffing a sigh and following nonetheless, her brow furrowed as she frowns after him.]

You cannot be serious.

[This is probably the worst idea she's heard since Wonderland transformed in the first place.]

The township's cameras caught sight of a horde on the move in that direction.

[All the more reason not to be outside in the first place.]

[lifeskills]

<sub>[Does he look like he's joking? Victor thinks the words but doesn't say them, quite content to hold his tongue if it means this encounter will be over, but a glance behind him informs she's trailing after him, following in his footsteps like a particularly odd shadow.

He stops in consternation. Women don't generally pursue him for a second helping after the first conversation ends.]</sub>

And what does that have to do with you following me?