Scene #8218: A Meeting Of Mind

Owner	Pose
Ishirou	The INDUS Consul chamber is about what you'd picture it. It sits at the very top of the tallest building in INDUS. Here are the captains of industry, influencers, and old money who managed to buy their positions. Here the table they sit at is large and made out of the most expensive materials. Marble engraved with gold marks, windows that look out over the entire scene, and screens everywhere that display various data points. Here several men and women sit, their clothes impeccable, their features comely, and obviously have never wanted for anything in their lives. Many of these people have done unspeakable things, hurt people to get here, and caused untold suffering in their wake. However, they have tried to keep the last city on Earth alive and going, without reducing their way of life. They are still failing. Slowly, but through attrition. It might not be in their lifetimes, but eventually, the city will fall. Or become something that they wouldn't recognize. However, they sit, patiently. They await the person who says that they can fix their problems, who can somehow preserve what Indus was. They wait patiently.
Eggman	Spectacle is critical. Doctor Ivo Robotnik - the nefarious Doctor Eggman, the greatest supervillain the world has ever known - is a master of spectacle. Witness as he throws open the doors of the Council Chamber. He occupies the space between the hallway and the people, casting his shadow across the room. He is a tall man. The shadow stretches wide. Watch as he bows. One gloved hand across his chest, just between the two white-and-yellow straps that hold his jacket in place. The other hand tucked behind his back, hidden away in the style of a polite, archaic gentleman. He does not rise quickly - he knows the value of giving 'respect' to those who imagine they deserve it, and in the power of commanding the room, and these are men and women who have never known anyone else with that knowledge. They are secure in towers of ivory and steel. He would grin, but it is not time yet, for Eggman's grin only appears at the Proper Moment, and it tells only one tale. See how he rises to his full height, and places both hands on his collar, adjusting it gently. There is something with the slightest glint of silver tucked under his glove, but he's been scanned by security, and they know he has no weapons. They know without a doubt he is unarmed. He has not even brought an escort. A show of good faith, he has said. A show of his intentions. Oh yes. Oh yes. The Doctor does not sit. Examine his motions - he stands at the head of the board room and slams his hands down with characteristic zeal, to shake these people out of their torpor and lead the room. "Ladies and gentlemen of INDUS, I am Doctor Ivo Robotnik - the nefarious Doctor Eggman." He straightens once again and adjusts his collar almost compulsively. "By now the Eggman Plan has circulated through your Council. You know that, beyond a shadow of a doubt, I am capable of saving your city, your world, and your way of life. You have inspected my designs and seen nothing amiss. You have looked upon my work and understood it to be the work of a genius prepared to give his all for this city." For this city. The words have an...odd ring. "You doubtless question my motives. Why would I wish to assist you? Obviously, the matter of your works of art - your beautiful FANTOM androids - have been put forward as payment. But you are not fools. You have done your research. You know my reputation." Watch his fingers go to his moustache. Planned. Preening. He's proud of his reputation. He's making it clear. "You also know that I do not kill, if you know that much. And further, you know that I am deeply, deeply hateful towards the so-called environment and its ecological tyranny. I am a man who would see nature subordinated beneath the feet of man, not ruling over it with terror." He clenches his fist and slams it on the table. The impact is tremendous. He is a strong man. He is probably stronger than everyone in the room. And there's that ring of metal again, the slight 'ting' of something against the table. It is another demand for attention. "I despise what this world is!" Eggman turns and throws open his arms, turning his back on them. A show of trust? They could shoot him now. Perhaps it would even stick. He walks towards the door. "I despise seeing craftsmen - elegant craftsmen - craftsmen in a trade I have spent my life, my genius, mastering - bent low to the whims of nature!" He whirls on them, and there's a glint on his glasses. "I want to see what INDUS is truly capable of." His fingers squeeze tight. "I want to see what this world can do unfettered by the constraints of its dying nature." "So then!" He straightens once more and adjusts his collar a third time. "Does that assuage your fears? Your concerns? Your worries?" "Can we, as they say...do business profitable to both of us?"
Ishirou	Some jump at the various actions of Eggman, his showmanship awes some of them even. Not everyone is so easily cowed...but not a single person in this room is ignoring him or dismissing him. Even if they think he's dangerous, even if they trust him, not an eye in the room isn't watching his every motion, listening to his every word, and thinking about his every point. Murmuring happens, and some turn to others, speaking softly. These are words that are normal. Some support, some concern, some fear, but not a single one is indifferent. This is the most divided they have been in a long time, but also the most energetic. At the other end of the table, a single voice speaks out. It belongs to an aging, but somehow, beautiful woman. Eggman would recognize the look in her eyes, the look of a person...someone who would do anything for her goals. She has her hands folded, but just under her chin as she speaks. Her nameplate reveals her as Laverna Labor, her company is the very one that runs the production of the Androids. "We have heard you, Dr. Eggman. We have read your proposals, we have reviewed your work, and we have heard your words today. You have revealed our concerns, and have caused more of a ripple through this room that has been felt ever since I have taken the seat I do now.." she says, evenly and measuredly. "If you can do what you claim...and I trust you can, then the price is worth the cost. What would we need of FANTOM, if nature was firmly beneath our heels? The people would be happy, our needs fulfilled, and our worries assuaged." "So Doctor, I say this with the authority of the Consul, that we will accept your proposal...if you concede to both come to the city's aid if attacked from an outside source, and do not use FANTOM against this city. I think those terms fair, and understandable to ease the concerns in some of my partners here."
Eggman	Eggman does not bend. Watch him. Watch his every motion. Watch as his fingers go to curl his moustache as if in thought. He does not need to think about this, but that, too, is part of the show. Of pretending that these people are on his level. Of pretending that he did not think of every contingency. Of every possible branch. He is a man who thinks in ways so perfectly mechanical that the world of dreams itself is forever beyond him. But it is about the spectacle. And so watch, as his fingers curl around his moustache, as he displays the image of thinking about ways he could exploit this to his advantage. Watch as his lip twitches slightly, sinking, as he pretends that he cannot find any. As he pretends as if they have outsmarted him. As he pretends as if he had ever intended to do anything but. Finally, he sighs. "I suppose that's a very fair deal," he says, leaning forward, looking slightly defeated as he holds out his hand. "I shall come to the aid of this city beyond merely the fortifications that I will erect - later today, in fact, as it will cost me nothing at all to move my construction machines in and begin work once you've approved - and I shall never wield FANTOM against the city." "Well done. I had perhaps thought that I might find some wiggle-room, but..." He sighs and twirls his moustache. "You're much more prepared than I thought. You can't blame me for trying, though." Watch his expressions. So convincing. A wry smile, hinting at his nature, as if they had outsmarted him. Ho ho, says the funny Eggman. You clever boys and girls. You made sure to put a clause in to tie my hands, and you know my reputation. Clever, clever. "Now then." He reaches into his pocket. An electronic pad, red and yellow, with the Egg Empire logo at the top, is passed over to the lady director. "I'll need access to FANTOM to ensure I can coordinate with your network. Turrets, defensive measures, et cetera. First thing to set up, you know. Need to be able to shoot the troublesome...what do you call them, erm..." He snaps his fingers. "Let's go with 'monsters', I've been terribly busy lately." "In case my construction work attracts them." The Eggpad sits in her hands, waiting for input.
Ishirou	"Nullborn," Laverna says, keeping her tone measured and calm. She notices the relaxation in his posture, the 'oh you caught me' boyism that he is performing now. She follows it, giving a soft smile as someone her age might to someone younger than her. A very much 'I see we understand each other' kind of look. The others at the table freeze, watching this show between the two. They are silent, some are willing to let Laverna hang herself, and others have no idea what to do. Some are far outside of their depth. Laverna listens to the demands of the Doctor, he requires the defenses so that he can defend his construction. On the surface this is sound, but she knows there is an angle. She takes the Eggpad, unknowing that this decision would likely make sure she's using a nokia as a phone for the rest of her life considering her next move. How is he trying to point this out so that he has the upper hand..? She considers everything that she has to see in front of her. She doesn't know everything in his wheelhouse, she is working with the knowledge in front of her. Finally, with a move of her hand, she gives access. Something is making her secure in her decision. She hands the Eggpad back, eyes sure of herself. There is something she knows, but it could also be unwarranted arrogance.
Eggman	ACCESS GRANTED. The Eggpad beams the signal directly to Eggman's network the moment it's confirmed. He takes the pad with a smile. "We do indeed understand each other. The citizens of INDUS shall never want for anything again." Then he turns around and moves for the door. Notice how he pauses. "Oh yes." "One minor detail." He turns. "I've been pursuing one of your...renegades." He rubs his fingers together. "Ishirou - formerly I4, but I abhor deadnaming, really quite regressive, though I doubt you'd recognize him if I didn't say as much. Bit of a personal matter. He has access to one of my bases, you see - such that it is." The fingers continue rubbing together. The glint of steel behind the glove. "I attempted to take it back, and I came across some technology I think will benefit INDUS tremendously. Very advanced. Apparently, one of my alternate selves - ah, just Multiverse matters, don't worry about it - was very invested in certain android-adjacent technologies." There's a building menace, now, as his fingers stop rubbing together. Is that a glimmer of green light under his glove, at his pointer finger? "Now I had to make some serious modifications, of course - don't want your little renegade getting in through a security hole he's already patched, obviously!" A deep belly laugh. Ho, ho, ho. Shared joke. Renegades, am I right? Traitors. Awful. Absolutely awful. "It's called..." And then he points at Laverna with his index finger. A green beam of light, right to the forehead. The light turns red. The Eggman Empire logo in crimson light. Machinery. Machinery spreads from that light. It bursts outwards like a living creature. Tendrils of wire erupting from flesh - no, from patches of metal spreading across flesh. No damage. No blood. Transformative, not destructive. The wires wrap around Laverna's throat. Around her hands. Around every part of her body. The metal spreads. It is a virus of steel made for flesh and blood. It leaps, eagerly, consuming everything that is Laverna Labor. In a heartbeat Laverna Labor is no longer Laverna Labor. She is no longer a human being. As Eggman's lips spread beneath his moustache, Laverna Labor rises, and turns now-mechanical, now-dead, now-unfeeling eyes towards the rest of the council. The Grin. It tells only one story. The shadows grow long. The lights go dim. Across the table Eggman's shadow looms, the impossible shadow with the glinting teeth and the glinting eyes, the horrifying shadow of not a man but a monster, a monster restrained not by morality but by the simple desire to Win on his own terms and no other. His face is concealed in shadow and yet those teeth, those glasses, are still lit by some force beyond. Watch. Watch the void at work. "The Roboticizer." He leans backwards against the door, pressing his full weight upon it. With a flick of his fingers the Eggpad broadcasts a signal to FANTOM - stand down. With a swish of his hand, like a conductor in a cartoon, the sky darkens. The great Egg Carrier falls across the city of INDUS from nowhere. Alongside it, the Egg Fleet, the massive escort ships, to protect it from whatever Nullborn might threaten the Carrier in its dark work. Eggman acts as if he's cleaning his nails. His grin has not changed. The windows lock. He is in their network. He is in control of their network. The Eggman Empire logo flashes across every screen in INDUS. Above the walls of the city, below the floating Egg Armada, a red-and-yellow wall peeks up, coated in turrets. Eggman throws open his arms at the Council. "WELCOME TO THE EGGMAN EMPIRE!" "HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!" There is no going back. The windows tint black, the door seals. From its cracks comes only laughter, laughter and flashes of red light. They will want for nothing.
Ishirou	Ishirou brings no recollection to her eyes, but when he mentions I4... Her blood goes cold, her eyes narrow, and she leans forward in her chair slightly, like a murderer who thought they got away with it hearing that the person they killed was still alive. "Impossible, we dispatched an assassin to kill him, and we obtained and confirmed his death. Are you saying he still somehow lived..?" She doesn't have time to ponder this, as the green beam of light hits her. Realizing that this was happening to her, /because/ of I4...because of the man she thought she killed...twice! She screams, but it isn't terror...well it's partially terror. It's terror and anger...no rage. The rage that she hadn't done it, and that now she was reaping what she sowed. Despite everything... The wires overtake her arms, as the metal spreads. In her last moments, she speaks, "Curse...you...Clement..." she spits out, "And curse you...Egg-..." gone. Moments later, the human that was Laverna is gone. She turns towards the rest of the consul, ready to do to them what had been done to her. Somewhere else... Another woman, looking like a younger version of Laverna...perhaps a sister, if not for the fact she sits in the streams of data, the in-between places of Indus. Here she watches her beloved humanity, watches as they are pampered, as they are led to be indolent. She watches souls of the dead shoved into boxes, no longer human...no longer worth anything but to serve humans. Until the end of INDUS happens. She watches, forced to watch. The Roboticizer and robotized civilians turning others...she watches her beloved humanity being taken from her. She screams...she screams that the entire network feels her wrath. However, she wasn't an official being in it, she had to sneak around for her access, but Eggman had full access now. She has to save her beloved humanity from this! She knows exactly who to blame for this though...but before him... Eggman would pay for this, she thinks.