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Post by Jordanna on May 11, 2009 22:59:52 GMT -5
Vance's body tensed, his jaw clenching beneath his mask. He leaned forward, and though his hands hung limply between his knees, the tiniest of sparks flared at his fingertips.
"Atoms don't have minds, and they don't feel pain," he grated blackly. "We aren't resources--we're people. If there's anything inhuman about us, it's how much hate we've tolerated already... but even we have our limits."
Nate's hand discreetly came to rest on his father's shoulder. He spoke in a voice that was low, but probably not too low for Voegel to hear.
"Easy, Dad. We knew where we stood with this one. Don't make it any worse."
The Major glanced up at his son. At last he reluctantly forced himself to relax, and the energy at his fingertips subsided.
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Post by skybright on May 11, 2009 23:26:16 GMT -5
Voegel's glance flicked from Vance to Nate, and his lips twisted in an expression that was half mocking smirk, half pained grimace. "And yet here you are, supposedly interested in saving my colleagues from this mysterious other party. That'd be quite the joke on you, wouldn't it -- if I believed it."
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Post by Jordanna on May 12, 2009 22:45:06 GMT -5
"Believe what you want," Vance murmured moodily. "If I didn't get any thanks when I was fighting for this country in uniform, I'm hardly expecting it now."
Nate frowned. A reference to military service seemed too broad to be harmful--but it was a detail he would just as soon not have heard his father mention, in any case.
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Post by skybright on May 12, 2009 22:52:36 GMT -5
Voegel chuckled hoarsely, wincing at the pain it caused him. "Soldier, eh? Then you of all people should appreciate what the kind of firepower we're talking about could do to shift the balance of power where it counts."
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Post by Jordanna on May 13, 2009 22:10:55 GMT -5
"I would gladly have given the Army every ounce of my firepower--if they'd asked me to," Vance hissed. "So would hundreds, even thousands of others. We could've changed the world with our gifts. Instead we got blacklisted, booted out... only to have slime like you come oozing after us. But you don't want soldiers--you want monsters."
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Post by skybright on May 14, 2009 0:42:18 GMT -5
"Weapons." Voegel replied, with the same half-smirk. "We need weapons . . . and we'll do what it takes to make sure we have them."
"Listen to yourself." Caddy interjected, his voice thick with uncharacteristic rage. "You're a doctor. How could you do the things you're --" He broke off suddenly and turned away from Voegel, clenching his fists at his sides.
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Post by Jordanna on May 14, 2009 21:40:14 GMT -5
"It's too bad they got no test for a conscience in med school," Sid grumbled. "This guy woulda flunked."
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Post by skybright on May 15, 2009 2:11:06 GMT -5
"They do." Caddy growled, "Or they're supposed to, anyway."
There was a knock at the door, then -- two short raps followed by two longer ones -- and Daws slipped back into the room, locking the door behind her. She glanced at Caddy's uncharacteristically tense posture, then crossed the room to Vance's side.
"I got through." She said quietly, "He'll be here as soon as he can."
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Post by Jordanna on May 15, 2009 22:15:10 GMT -5
"That's good," Vance said tersely. "Because I don't think we're gonna get anywhere talking to this one ourselves."
For a moment, Proteus somberly regarded Vance and the other angry mutants in the room. Then he turned to Voegel.
"Are you in much pain?" he asked gently.
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Post by skybright on May 15, 2009 23:45:41 GMT -5
Voegel narrowed his eyes at Proteus. "I think that's something of a foregone conclusion." He replied tersely.
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Post by Jordanna on May 16, 2009 22:27:23 GMT -5
"I'm sorry for that. I'm trying to help your wounds stitch together faster, but I'm no miracle worker." Proteus turned to Caddy. "Can you give him anything for the pain now? It might... help things a little, maybe."
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Post by skybright on May 16, 2009 22:41:06 GMT -5
Caddy took a deep breath, visibly shaking off his anger. "Yeah. I can do that."
He turned around and returned to the bedside, reaching for his black bag. "Can't promise it'll improve his mood any, though."
Voegel gave an eloquent snort by way of reply, and watched with distrust as Caddy filled a syringe from one of the bottles in his bag. The mutant doctor caught the look and held the bottle of fluid out for Voegel's inspection. "Morphine." He said. "I'm not in the habit of shooting people up with anything unless they know what's in it first."
Voegel rolled his eyes at that, an expression that turned into a slight wince as Caddy administered the injection -- but he still visibly relaxed as the drug began to take effect.
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Post by Jordanna on May 16, 2009 23:04:00 GMT -5
Vance turned to Daws with a slight, frustrated shake of his head. "By now you can probably figure our odds of sweet-talking this one. If Cole can't do anything with him, we'll have gone through a lot of trouble for nothing."
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Post by skybright on May 16, 2009 23:08:34 GMT -5
Daws grimaced. "Not to mention wasted a lot of time we can't spare." She sighed. "Here's hoping he can put that brain of his to some good use, I guess."
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Post by Jordanna on May 16, 2009 23:17:52 GMT -5
Proteus was still studying Voegel thoughtfully.
"Why do you want to turn mutants into weapons?" he asked plainly. "Who would you use them against--and how do you think you could ever justify it to the world, when the facts came out, and a lot of other countries started wondering if they're next?"
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Post by skybright on May 16, 2009 23:26:44 GMT -5
Voegel chuckled humorlessly. "You really think other countries aren't already doing the exact same thing? Don't be naive." He shook his head. "This is an arms race, just like any other -- and if we don't make it before our enemies do, we're done for. That's justification enough."
Daws snorted. "Nothing like a nice dose of Cold War-era paranoia, I guess." She muttered.
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Post by Jordanna on May 18, 2009 22:29:48 GMT -5
"Slaves never won anybody's war for them," Vance ground out. "If you want mutants to fight for this country, give them a reason to want to fight for it."
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Post by skybright on May 18, 2009 23:42:43 GMT -5
Voegel let his head fall back on the pillow with a sigh. "There's no point in arguing with you people." He said. "Either you understand what we're doing and why . . . or you're nothing but another obstacle."
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Post by Jordanna on May 18, 2009 23:49:05 GMT -5
"You'd better get ready for us to be more than just an obstacle, pal," Vance snapped. "We already told you what's coming. You can make it easier on everybody, or not--and frankly, I don't care all that much."
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Post by skybright on May 19, 2009 0:00:11 GMT -5
"I'm sure you don't." Voegel smirked. "Except it'd make it so much easier on you if I decided to play nice, wouldn't it?"
His expression darkened. "Well forget it, mutie. I wouldn't cooperate even if I hadn't seen what your kind of people did to Mount Bliss."
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