|
  |
For the past few days of being locked up, Armando has been sitting in quiet. He hasn't eaten- sharing his meal with the others. He hasn't drank anything- again, making sure the others get a little bit more than was given. Armando hasn't even slept- just quietly keeping watch for the group so others could sleep. He doesn't seem to be bothered by any of it. He's like a grey-skinned statue watching over his friends.
While the random group seemed to work well together to get into the facility, the captivity is truly showing individual colors and what 'teamwork' seems to mean to them as individuals. That's actually part of the problem. Too many individuals and not enough 'team'. It's been something Sousa has been mulling in the time while they wait and figure out a plan to escape.
As he wakes from his own nap, Sousa first checks on how Wilson is healing up before he glances around to the others. Seeing that Darwin is possibly awake, he limps his way over and takes a moment to see if the man is actually awake. "Holding up all right?"
"Yeah, I'm good." Armando replies to Sousa. "Hungry?" he asks, offering the tray of food he's kept- it looks to have been partially eaten. "Anna ate some of it." he explains, as he takes a slow breath. Quiet. Armando has been quiet for most of the time they've been imprisoned. "How about you?"
All channels have been gagged.
Sousa glances to the tray of food and shakes his head, "Thanks, I'm all right." Or maybe he's saving the edible food for the others who are younger and might have powers that require more energy. "Well, I'd rather be elsewhere, but for where we are, I'm fine," there's a smirk there before he looks about at the others. "We need to get out before they make good on their threats." In fact, he's surprised that they seem to be mostly forgotten for now.
"If they come, just let them take me." Armando offers simply. "They won't be able to hurt me, probably." he says with a quiet smile. "You're right, though. We need to figure a way out. Wasp thought she might be able to do some recon for us. Get tiny. Get moving." he explains to the boss. "But I'd still prefer them to take me, if they take anyone. I have the best chance to surviving anything they throw at me."
"I appreciate the volunteering. A lot of people seem to be saying much the same thing," Sousa moves to lean against the wall. "Iceman seems to think that the giant head is some sort of telepath. Can you protect against that?" That's the one question, but then, "We're not going to leave here without anyone. How will Ms…uh…Wasp be able to get out? Maybe when they send us the food trays?" Is she fast enough and small enough?
"Haven't really thought it out, yet." Darwin replies, "Figured we'd want to pow-wow as a group and decide." Armando nods quietly, "Yeah- I should be able to do something. I imagine his telepathy won't be the soft and subtle kind- he seems the type to attack. To work damage. If he does that, I'm fine. He won't be able to hurt me." Armando explains, "My mutation is constantly active. I evolve to survive any situation." he continues. "However, on Wasp- if we can create a distraction, she might be able to slip out. Maybe a couple of us start a fight- they're trying to keep us alive. No matter the method, there will still need to be some kind of distraction. Maybe if they take me, she can hide in a pocket." he suggests, "She can slip out and get moving. Get the lay of the land- we may not be able to escape easily, but she has the best chance of it. If she can get out, she can possible get a rescue team in here."
"You seem a pretty logical sort," Sousa admits, "And maybe some of these younger kids will listen to you. I agree that we all need to Pow-wow and come up with a plan…or three. But some of the kids seem fairly certain that they know everything. I get that we all have different experiences, but this, especially, is where we need to put aside differences and work together. I don't care if, after this, they all hate my guts, but that all needs to be put aside to get out." There's some obvious frustration there.
"I like the idea of Ms. Wasp doing recon, but I don't like the idea of waiting for them to pull one of us out. I've been trying to time when they bring us the food trays. That may be our best bet if she's fast enough and small enough so that their surveillance won't pick it up." He lowers his voice, "We also need to plan in a way that they won't overhear or see."
"Or, that they can't understand." Armando offers quietly. "And you're right. Now is not the time for heroism- now is the time for survival. Many more lives hang in the balance than our own." he says, before he nods. "I can talk to Iceman and Havok. I know them in our personal lives." he takes a slow breath, quiet. "As for keeping strength up- I've not been eating, sleeping or drinking. I've been watching them. Memorizing their patterns- shift changes, feeding schedules, even bathroom breaks." he smiles quietly. "Pretending I'm asleep. I haven't slept in days." he winks, "Its easy when you don't need those things to survive." He's also just been keeping watch- making sure everyone is safe. That no one is taken in the night while the others sleep. "The schedule is pretty regular- I'm guessing the people we're fighting are para-military at the very least."
"I'd appreciate it," Sousa looks out at the others, "I don't think they'll listen to me at all, which frankly, is troublesome. If they can't learn to be on a team in these extreme situations, I'd have concerns about later." He knows what team they're on with SHIELD.
But, moving on, "Thank you for taking on that role. If you need to sleep, just let me know and I'll take over that watch." As for the supposition that their captors are para-military, he nods, "Which means weapons. Possibly those HYDRA weapons. We need to get one of those, if at all possible." And it's odd that they weren't searched. "They haven't taken our weapons, therefore they might actually underestimate us, which is most definitely to our advantage."
"MODOK thinks he's the superior life form." Armando notes, simply nodding to Sousa's thanks. "He's going to underestimate us because he's arrogant." he says next. "He'll likely want to prove his superiority however he can. If we're smart, we can use that against him." The grey-skinned mutant says with a wry smile. "Which is why I say to let him take me first. If we can have a plan in place for that he'll be distracted. Its very unlikely he'll be able to cause me any real harm, at least, I hope so."
"If I can keep him distracted during that session, we can again use his megalomania to our advantage. A man who thinks he's the best at all things won't be able to admit when he's made a mistake. He certainly won't be able to let his underlings see that kind of weakness." It was fairly basic psychology. "As for the weapons- it shouldn't be too difficult to get one." he takes a slow, quiet breath. "AS for sleep, I don't need it. The first twenty-four hours were a little tough, but after that my body compensated. I'm not tired. I don't need food. I don't need water- I'm apparently surviving just fine on air and ambient radiation. I'll give you a proper report, though. Between Wasp and Arachnid, we should be able to make an escape. Wasp can get a lay of the land. Arachnid can disable the guards and go invisible." He speaks quietly now. So very quietly. "Iceman may be able to weaken the door if he can drop its temperature enough. Arachnid is quite strong." He has been thinking. "And, if I can hold MODOK's attention long enough should they take me… Well. We can at least cause some chaos and make a good attempt."
"I want to get us out -before- this giant head-thing starts his individual interrogations. So I don't want to create a distraction and have you outside of our reach. No Man Left Behind." Sousa's fairly firm on this. "But good to know about Ms. Wasp and Mr…Arachnid." Oh, the names. He also lowers his voice, "I know that Mr. Havok has that blast of energy…but we have Wilson, who's been pretty injured. If I can get one of those guns, I can help with the cover fire…I don't know how much my own pistol will do, but I have that as well."
There's a pause as he thinks, "If Ms. Wasp can get out and give us the lay of the land, that would be a help. If she can get out an S.O.S signal, but that just might be too much." For now.
Armando nods. "First thing to do is get everyone on the same page." he says quietly, "I'll give the schedules. They aren't opening the door for the feeding- so… Yeah." Armando is thinking now- quiet a moment. After all, Amadeus isn't the only genius intellect in this cell. "We need to get them to open the door and be distracted long enough for Wasp to make her escape." he looks over quiet towards Sam. "Is he safe to move?" he wonders, next. "Can he move his toes?"
"And we need to make sure we're all going to act with a plan." No heroics, no rushing off without letting others know what they're doing. Teamwork. It's needed now. Sousa nods in agreement with letting everyone know the schedules. He then glances to where Sam is on the bunk, "I think he can be moved, yes, but I'm not sure if he's able to run or walk without help. I don't think his spine has been injured…I would hope that the Doctor would have mentioned that."
"Good." Armando says, first. "We need to impress upon them that there is so much more to lose than pride here. At least fifteen nuclear weapons went missing. I don't have proof, but I'd bet dollars to dimes that more than fifteen went missing after seeing what we have here." he looks quietly to Sousa. "The data seemed to suggest it, too, however it was only that- a suggestion. Not solid proof." Those white eyes and grey face are almost impossible to read- he'd be a very potent poker player. "And hope everyone comes together here- both SHIELD and Avengers." he sighs softly, leaning his head back against the wall. A moment of rest he looks over towards Sousa. "A plan is the first step, though. No time to worry about what may be."
"The Avengers -are- SHIELD," Daniel points out, "Although I understand that it wasn't made entirely clear. We're all on the same team here. It's not an 'Us and them' having to work together." Which is really what's the fratrating part. A hand scrubs through his hair and then over his stubbly face, "I don't want to leave those here either, in their hands. Or that giant head's." He's still parsing all of that, but it's a lot easier to just form a plan of escape than ponder just what the Hell MODOK actually is. "Or if we can render them inert…"
"I'm not sure we'll find them in their original configuration. Those weapons they fired need heavy power sources." Armando notes, "You can't create that kind of directed energy without a huge power source. I think they may have repurposed our plutonium." The gray-skinned mutant says quietly. "We can't be sure of it, of course. So, we better do what we can here." he agrees softly. "We should get Amadeus on that-" he says over to Daniel with a nod of his head. "We all have our skills here."
Sousa is quiet for a moment as he ponders Darwin's words, "I could see that with those weapons." They're all going to have to go through decontamination when they get out, won't they? There's no 'if' about it. They -have- to get out. Pushing himself from the wall, Sousa takes a couple steps forward as he seems about ready to check in on Sam, "That we do. We all need to realize that. I'll ask Cho when he wakes up…or if you catch him first, please let him know what we'd like him to work on."
Armando nods quietly, "Will do, chief." the grey-skinned mutant offers with a little smile. Its a somewhat forced thing- there's little to be happy about in this situation. Still, he smiles. "I'll get him on it." Armando says, "I think I can catch his attention." The alien-looking mutant is, after all, a certified genius. "I think I can speak his language."
Sousa gives a wry chuckle at the title given as well as in return to the smile. "It's appreciated. I'll try to talk to Sam, Ms. Wasp, and Mr. Arachnid. See what thoughts they have." He's already letting Darwin talk to Havok and Iceman. "We've got some incredible people in this room. We can get out of it." That's going to be his attitude. It has to be.
"We are." Armando says. "Everyone will come together. Its make or break time." He offers Sousa another quiet smile- a simple thing. "I'll get my people working with the rest of the team." he assures Sousa. "I'll make them understand!"