Scene #8953: Uninvited Guest

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Ivy Carrow	"You shouldn't engage with that corporation any longer, Ivy. I don't think you appreciate the danger..." "I appreciate it plenty, Alex." She leaned forward, her hands pressing against the table, a scowl curling across her lips. It was an expressions he was making more and more at Alex, lately. Ivy hated it. "I've been through danger before. You know I have. Even THOSE kinds of dangers. You know I can make it through, so why are you being LIKE this?" "Just because you got through it before doesn't mean it won't catch up to you." "So, why now? Why not before. You understood, didn't you?" Her voice rode the knife-edge between frustration and pleading. "But now, you're treating me like some damsel to lock away and...protect." Alex flinched at her expression, found he couldn't quite meet her eyes."I'm...Sorry, Ivy." He swallowed. "But, this is bigger than you. I wish you'd see that. Castle Carrow would fall apart without you. We don't have anyone else who could leash it. Without you, everything would--" "--Stop." Her hands balled up at a fist at her sides. "Don't do this! You KNOW better!" She glared at her Vice-Captain, and he trailed off. "...I just don't want to lose what we've built, Ivy. That's all." "And I wanted to build a place where people wouldn't ask me those kinds of questions anymore." Her voice was soft, now. "Don't you dare take that away from me." Neither of them could bring themselves to break the silence that followed. \| \| The space in Control sliced open, 'dripping' a eerie red light, about the size of a person. There wasn't even time to sound an alarm, before something stepped through-- --A familiar woman, with a warprunner Patch on her vest and a light-absorbing cloak. "Greetings," she said with a smile, throwing her cloak back over her shoulders in a flourish, practically preening already. "I am here to speak to miss Angela."
Angela	There isn't enough time to sound an alarm before someone steps through-- --but there's plenty of time afer! A warning siren blaers for about ten seconds before someone is able to shut it off and there's the sound of agents running from a distance to make it to the intrusion point, all with readied weapons. "Okay, stop, stop it!" Justin Rook shouts. "It's a Concord Agent. Back to your posts!" He exhales slowly as Ivy dramatically fwaps her cloak over her shoulders and preens and says she is here to speak to Angela. "...Please call ahead next time." Justin Rook says with the sense that he'd prefer to say something a bit more vicious but he ends up swallowing that down to add, "She isn't always available--" Over the speakers, Angela's voice pipes in. "Stand down, Captain. I will discuss protocol with Captain Carrow personally." Justin Rook pinches the bridge of his nose. There's some tendencies of a familiar Vice-Captain in him. "Okay, I'll take you to the Office." He says. He leads Ivy to the office, raps on the door and the door slides open automatically to let Angela in. Angela's office is sparse as usual though a number of books have hastily been set aside in a stack. Angela herself is sitting on top of her desk, the edge specifically, with one leg over the other and leaning forward as Ivy makes her way in. There isn't a chair for Ivy to sit in though this is, for once, because Angela hadn't had the time to prepare one. "My apologies for the rude greetings, but generally we frown on people teleporting into our facility with no warning or notice. I will excuse this time out of ignorance." She places her hands on the desk, palms down. "How may I help you, Captain?" She asks.
Ivy Carrow	An sane person probably would have reacted more to all those weapons being pulled at her arrival, at the open hostility on display around her. And react Ivy did--but rather than stammer and cower or even run, she took a sharp, alarmed breath, and grabbed the hem of her cloak, trying to watch everyone at once as her breath steadied into practiced rythmn. When the weapons dropped, so did her grip on her cloak. Ivy raised her eyebrows at Justin as Angela's voice came over the loudspeakers, her grin relaxing from stiff and forced to her usual infuriating jovialness. "A pleasure to meet you, too." She offered him a wink, before following in his wake to her office. The lack of chairs isn't an obstacle for Ivy. She lets herself fall back across from Angela, and a chair...Is just there, high-backed, with dark wood and a comfortable red cushion. "For you, I think I'll restrain myself." Her smile came easily. "Offically, I'm sure your employees will be happy to know the warpgate to what used to be Quicknest's Castle has been restored. They may now travel through Castle Carrow Carrow's outer rim to reach it through a new gate." "Unofficially..." Ivy leaned forward. "We've seen each other some, but, we haven't had time to properly meet." Ivy murmured, "Yuuki and Zero had a lot good to say about you at the Arcade. So, I thought it would be a good time." And whatever trouble Angela was facing, clearly they wanted to help her through it. "Am I wrong?"
Angela	"Yeah, yeah... Sorry for getting spooked." Justin says, without much sympathy nor rancor. "Normally if a portal opens up it's because something is out to kill us, you know." He doesn't join Ivy into the office. Angela raises an eyebrow when Ivy just summons a chair but she's getting a little more accustomed to wild chicanery like this from her fellow Concord Partners--and rather, is essentially forced to accept she happens to be a Concord partner as well. She is still coming to grips with what that means, though. "You know, usually when a portal opens up it is because someone is out to kill the people of this facility." Angela says, ignorant of the comedy therein. "I do not usually see people without appointment. ... But it is not as if I have had too many visitors so recently I will mind the distraction." ''We've seen each other some, but we haven't had the time to properly meet.'' "...I see." Angela slides off her desk and offers Ivy her hand. "A pleasure to meet you. My name is Angela. I am the Secretary to the Manager of this facility." She frowns, maybe surprisingly, at what Ivy says after. "I assumed you were not paying attention to that sort of dialogue, busy with your own concerns. If you are hoping for me to be able to help you get closer to the Director I am afraid I will be of no use, but if you simply wish to get along and know one another--that is acceptable to me. You understand what it means to have people whose lives are dependent on you ... among other qualities."
Ivy Carrow	"You know, your man outside said almost the same thing." She said, her tone wry, and a little amused...For a moment, before falling away to something a little more sober. "Guess I should have expected. Not like I'd want my runners to react much different to an unexpected gate." A pause. "I'll give proper warning, next time." She clasps her hand in Angela's. "Gate-Captain Ivy Carrow of the Warprunners, head of the Castle Carrow branch." "Oh, I don't think trying to climb the totem pole like that would even WORK with those two." Ivy said fondly, lounging in the elaborate new chair that she'd called into existence. "They'd see right through it, you know? People ducking into position to kiss their asses...They're founders of the Concord. They don't NEED it." "As far as I care, the fact they think you're worth it is reason enough to try." "You understand what it means to have people whose lives are dependent on you..." Ivy's smile quirked down, briefly. "Too well, sometimes." She said, grimacing. "My Vice-Captain had another talk with me this morning about that. He said this place was too dangerous." Her knuckles knocked, idly, once, on the arm of her chair. "You heard us arguing on the Concord channel. It's like that."
Angela	''You know, your man outside said almost the same thing'' "Then nevermind, go ahead and kill them while you're at it." Angela says, her tone deadpan but gives a more serious nod when Ivy consents to giving forewarning next time. "That would be appreciated." After the handshake, Angela slides herself back up onto her desk, tapping her forward leg against the back one as she crosses her legs. ''Oh, I don't think trying to climb the totem pole...'' "I do not mean in the sense of climbing the totem pole, Captain." Angela says. "...I have read the literaure provided to me and I have experienced some of the symptoms, if briefly." ''My Vice-Captain had another talk with me this morning about that.'' Angela quirks her head for a moment and then adds, "To a certain extent--I imagine he sees it as his job to be a a dissenting voice from time to time. ... You are a bit reckless, though I wouldn't say to the point of it being problematic. I take it you must sometimes agree with his behavior or you'd have him replaced. I have heard the arguments with some frequency but he is not wrong, Captain." She opens her golden eyes. "The facility is very dangerous. The Concord--no, the multiverse has not truly experienced just how dangerous this facility can become. And I hope that they never do. This is in part because of their capabilities--they are all consdierably more capable than the average Agent--but it is also thanks to Petra who can handle easily Abnormalties that could easily ball out of control."
Ivy Carrow	"We have our roles." She confessed, sighing. "We work best with different kinds of people. Thinks he's the best buffer to give someone who prefers to talk to someone 'professional' and 'sensible.' And he's right. He's good at pretending to be boring and business-safe. We're a good team." But while she said this, Ivy was holding her head in her hand. "...It's not like I don't understand what he means. I've seen everything he has, and more. I know the multiverse is dangerous. I know what's at stake." She clasped her fingerse, expression grim. "One of my Warprunners, Luz, comes from what we call a 'Malignant' world. It's dominated by a 'forest,' a large, predatory superorganism. Splinters grow inside your skin, replacing your muscles, until they can pilot your body." A brief pause. But she wasn't done. "Monsters will spear people on sharp branches, where, still alive, they'll open into flowers, and turn into into 'fruits' that fall to the ground as monsters. And worse. It's devoured an entire earth already. And you know all it'd take, to start to infect another?" "A splinter." "...I want you to understand, Angela. I'm not like this because I don't know what's out there." It was Ivy's turn to massage at her forehead. "How much would I lose, if I let myself get...Incurious? How many worlds wouldn't I see? What if what I need is just past the next horizon, and I turn back because I can't bear passing a battlefield, or a mass grave?" "We take what we see, what we experience, into ourselves from the world around us. Sometimes, you never even know you're missing something...Until the day you find it." She shook her head briefly, trying to jar a thought lose. "Maybe there's nothing in your world. Maybe it doesn't have what I need. But, what world am I supposed to leave behind next? What dangers are 'too much' to expose me too?" "I learned to use my sword on of world full of mythical monsters. I learned my magic from the books of kingdom of starving vampires. I stole my castle from the world devouring thing that ate my arm. Everything I am, everything worlwhile I've ever earned, I did with danger and risk. So what risk is 'too much?'"
Angela	''I know the multiverse is dangerous. I know what's at stake.'' "That is true. Even with what I've experienced I would be hard pressed to admit that it is really a danger I ''know''. Still, everyone in this facility knows it is a dangerous place but that does not mean they act with the appropriate caution. Whether that is by being too reckless... Or ''too'' careful." Ivy also speaks of a monster that does sound like an Abnormality. "Sounds a bit like Parasite Tree." Angela admits. "Though it seems to act more quickly and through splinters rather than through spore clouds." Despite this, she is finding herself sympathizing with Ivy. The idea of not being allowed to explore purely because of the danger, well, she's very well acquainted with THAT too. "I can imagine how many worlds you wouldn't be able to explore because you were turned into a tree." Angela says. "But it sounds like you are not simply concerned with seeing many worlds--you could certainly explore the multiverse for an eternity without visiting a malignant world--but rather because you are searching for something that you haven't found yet." Her eyes slant towards Ivy's arm for a moment, then back towards Ivy's face. "Same as with everyone else. The risk that is too much is the one that kills you." Angela says. "But I must confess that between the worlds you just expressed and this facility, they seem a little more dangerous. So the question is--what do you think this facility will bring you that makes it worth risking your life? If you travel because of what gifts you find--I admit I am not certain what I could provide you. ... But it is your life. If you deem a risk reasonable, I am not in a position to tell you no. Just don't make the same mistake some of those who have visited our facility have made."
Ivy Carrow	"You're right. I am looking for something. And...Some just don't exist in 'safe' worlds." She frowned, her eyes turning away from Angela's. "Dying...It doesn't seem like such a huge risk to me. Seeing these worlds helps me feel like I'm changing. And the only people who don't change are the dead." "That said, I don't come here intending to die, even if I do know it can happen." Dying, it seemed, was a possibility that Ivy has considered, weighed and deemed acceptable. When it came to the matter of what she hoped to learn, all Ivy could offer is a shrug. "I'm not very good at observing from a distance," Ivy admitted. "It's not what I've learned how to do. I get close up and personal, I get involved and I find what I'm there for...Or I don't. And I haven't seen much of your facility...Or the rest of your world. But...Between you and me? I usually get to take something away, even from the worst. Sometimes it's a skill. Or a bit of knowledge. Or even just a friend." "I don't know what I'll find. But, I think, that's the point of coming here at all."
Angela	''The only people who don't change are the dead.'' Angela frowns thoughtfully. "While I understand that as a metaphor I am not certain it is literal and, more to the point, most people change in gradual ways they don't see until after enough time has passed--it sneaks up on them. ... But I am aware that I am concerned about the lives of people more than most. I hope my presentation is at least fresh compared to your vice-captain but I find your take to be a bit selfish." "There are those that will miss you if you are gone and while, certainly, endings do arrive for most--it is a harsher memory if that loss comes too soon. I would be upset if I were to learn of your demise--doubly so if it was because of some stupid reason. But by all means ... Do what you must to live. I know my approaches tend to be ... moderate in this respect." But a thought occurs to Angela. "... But you know, I suspect Petra would appreciate your attitude? She values the shaping of one's narrative quite seriously and while so do I--all I'll say on this is to be wary that when you are escaping towers you are not simply throwing yourself out the window. I'll leave the matter there since I feel belaboring the point would be unneccessary coddling and maybe a bit condescending. At the end of the day, it is your life and if you consider the pain of such a passing a risk you are willing to take, it is a risk we must be willing to bear." She half smiles. Not quite a full smile. "I hope you find what you are looking for in this place. If there is anything I can do to help, please consider me at your disposal. I am happy to share Abnormality information with you to study that should help with safety purposes--so you need not rely too heavily on Petra and perhaps it will reassure your VIce-Captain some to know you are at least researching the local material."
Ivy Carrow	"Selfish? Maybe." It doesn't seem like an argument that's all that new to her. "I appreciate you saying that it's my choice, anyway." A beat. "We'll be maintaining our side of the warpgate to her castle for a while, so I guess I'll have a chance, won't I?" Ivy approved of flying castles, even if how she came by it was...Well, they were sworn to stay neutral if anything happened, anyway. "But you know what, you're right. I wouldn't tolerate him as my Vice-Captain if I didn't think he had a point," Ivy echoes, running a metal hand over her face. It was cool to the touch, in a way that pleased her. "I'm sure he'd appreciate those notes. He loves data like that." "...I hope we can take you on an expedition, someday."