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Post by Jordanna on Nov 21, 2008 0:03:00 GMT -5
"Anyway, if you happen to keep your ears open... I'll be pretty glad." Proteus winked at Steph as he picked up the ream of paper, then made his way back toward the copy room.
Mike was still pondering his cards, and Proteus gave him a gratuitous little wave as he moved over to the copier.
"The irrational way this place is organized, you'd think it was a government operation," the mutant quipped slyly.
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Post by skybright on Nov 21, 2008 0:12:31 GMT -5
Mike snorted quietly. "You think with all the fistfights Congress gets into over mutants that they'd fork out the cash to help 'em?" He flipped a card into the discard pile. "They'd never do it if they wanted to get re-elected."
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Post by Jordanna on Nov 21, 2008 22:45:03 GMT -5
Proteus knelt down to load the new ream of paper into the tray--if he could figure out how it was done.
"Who knows," he murmured, glancing briefly up at Mike with a small grin. "Maybe there are a coupla mutant politicians out there. I heard the rumors about that one senator."
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Post by skybright on Nov 21, 2008 23:32:04 GMT -5
Mike chuckled. "It's hardly the worst secret a Congressman could be hiding." He remarked.
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Post by Jordanna on Nov 21, 2008 23:41:47 GMT -5
That answer pleased Proteus, and he smiled faintly to himself as he tried to wedge the ream of paper into place. When at last he got it where it looked like it was supposed to be, he cautiously closed the paper tray and stood up. Glancing at the control panel, he was relieved to find that the no paper message had gone away.
"Hey, maybe I'm not so bad with machines after all." He grinned and pushed the start button, then watched as a new copy rolled out into the tray.
"Almost done here," he told Mike, putting the last note on the scanner.
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Post by skybright on Nov 21, 2008 23:48:21 GMT -5
Mike gestured vaguely with one hand. "You're not bothering me any. I'm not the one in charge of accounting for office supplies."
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Post by Jordanna on Nov 22, 2008 0:02:14 GMT -5
Proteus frowned. He wondered if the enemy could possibly take note of a mere five sheets of paper; perhaps Steph could give him a clue about that.
"I'll find an excuse if somebody asks," he replied, in a confident tone that was not entirely honest. "Paper jams happen."
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Post by skybright on Nov 22, 2008 0:07:52 GMT -5
Mike grinned crookedly. "I don't think even Voegel's that picky." He sobered. "Doctor G, on the other hand . . ."
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Post by Jordanna on Nov 22, 2008 0:28:15 GMT -5
"Uh-huh." Torn between curiosity and apprehension, Proteus wasn't sure whether to wish the man in question would show up or not. He shrugged and shuffled together his two sets of papers.
"Well, I guess I'd better--fill these forms out." In fact, his first objective was to put the original notes away before the occupant of the office arrived. "I'm still thinking about that game, though--see you later, Mike."
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Post by skybright on Nov 22, 2008 0:34:35 GMT -5
"Uh-huh." Mike was in the process of laying out yet another hand of solitaire, and he acknowledged Proteus with a vague nod as the other man left the room.
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Post by Jordanna on Nov 22, 2008 0:50:28 GMT -5
Proteus left the copy room and moved down the hall, returning to the office where he had found the notes. He quickly placed them in their folder, then slipped it back under the invoices in the desk drawer. Then he retreated swiftly.
Not bad going so far--some science memos, a paper that might have impressions of some phone numbers on it, and a bunch of random facts about these people. The shapeshifter smiled crookedly, then moved on to investigate the last office he had not yet examined.
The door to this one, however, was locked.
Doctor G's inner sanctum, I presume. Proteus glowered at the door; under other circumstances, it would be no obstacle to him, but for now he had to take the strictest care to be discreet. He found himself wishing he had Regina Dawson's lockpicking skills.
With a shrug, he moved back toward the kitchen and settled himself at the table, poised to pretend he was filling out papers if Mike wandered in.
Let's see what blows through next...
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Post by skybright on Nov 23, 2008 23:05:45 GMT -5
After about twenty minutes the front door opened and the sound of a muffled conversation at the front desk drifted into the kitchen; a few minutes later a narrow-faced blonde man with horn-rimmed glasses poked his head into the kitchen, waving vaguely.
"Good morning, Beaudry."
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Post by Jordanna on Nov 23, 2008 23:16:25 GMT -5
"Oh, hi." Proteus gave the man a polite smile; he didn't look like one of the more ominous characters around here. Perhaps this was the Doctor Cohen whose name kept coming up.
"Anything new?" the shapeshifter asked conversationally. "No hassles with mutant protesters or anything?"
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Post by skybright on Nov 23, 2008 23:27:42 GMT -5
The blonde man shook his head. "Nah. Once we start testing we might have some trouble, but I'm keeping my head down for now." He grinned faintly. "Until then, the public eye thing is your problem."
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Post by Jordanna on Nov 23, 2008 23:32:35 GMT -5
Proteus uttered a nervous chuckle. "Yeah, just my luck... It's starting to make regular day jobs look pretty good."
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Post by skybright on Nov 23, 2008 23:38:27 GMT -5
"Well, I wouldn't be entirely honest if I said I was sorry. I'm terrible with the public -- that's the whole reason we hired you, after all. Otherwise I'd probably be the one giving all the interviews, and I know that wouldn't do us much good in the image department."
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Post by Jordanna on Nov 23, 2008 23:50:35 GMT -5
The words were at least enough to confirm that the man was one of the legitimate doctors--and given his friendliness, Proteus was certain it was Cohen. The shapeshifter grinned and waved a hand.
"Hey, don't sell yourself short. You seem to have a pretty good bedside manner--and at least you'd know what you were talking about."
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Post by skybright on Nov 23, 2008 23:57:26 GMT -5
Cohen grinned. "Hey, I've been keeping an eye on the news. You're doing fine."
From behind Cohen in the hall came the sound of Voegel's door opening, and the other Doctor's voice said something indistinct. Cohen glanced over his shoulder and nodded, then turned back to Proteus.
"Duty calls. See you around."
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Post by Jordanna on Nov 24, 2008 0:08:26 GMT -5
"Oh. Uh--sure." Proteus waved a hand, watching with a small frown as the scientist walked out of the room. He would have liked a longer chance to probe this most affable of the enemies' agents. Perhaps later...
With a sigh, he pushed himself away from the table and wandered out into the hall. He had the idea that he should try to read over Beaudry's scripts--that is, if he could find whatever office or post Beaudry worked out of.
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Post by skybright on Nov 24, 2008 0:25:26 GMT -5
Steph came down the hallway, heading for the copy room and carrying another ream of paper. She smiled quizzically at Proteus.
"You sure keep looking like you've lost your train of thought today." She remarked quietly, glancing at Voegel's closed door and then back at Proteus. "Everything okay?"
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