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.~{:--------------:}~.
Go slower, go slower,
O fifth of October
The Inhuman court's in a spot;
Max knows of no reason
Why the Kree Empire's treason
Should ever get him shot!
Black Bolt and his companions
For the city's sake did strive
Against ancient ruins and Accuser goons
To merely survive.
*
New York in the autumn is a pretty, if pollluted place, stifling fumes and the cooling evening temperatures encouraging poison to linger at ground level. The headlines of the day carry increasing fraught tones: a nuclear test in violation of the Partial Test Ban Treaties, green lights in the sky, the second coming of Allah according to certain sources.
Not exactly the most comforting thing to see or hear. Maximus' apartment is mostly certainly not exempt from bad news; the doorman even as a comment on those 'silly people from the Middle East.'
Maximus is in his apartment, holding company with Kaleb, and in a totally unsavory state of dress, just a pair of pants and his coat, no shirt, no shoes. But…there was still definitely some servicing happening. He toasts the other man with an evening coffee, unaware of the incoming Karnak or otherwise terrible news.
Kaleb had no fewer than three books stacked up pertaining to architectural history: Ziggurats are apparently all the rage when you start talking buildings. He was never dressed down; slacks with the nice crisp crease pressed into them with shirt, complimenting tailored vest. Though he was comfortable. The buttons were actually undone as if the guy figured out what the words 'at ease' meant. The drafting lap desk was set aside for now. The conversation was in the realm of looking for comparisons between various early temples and the ancient Attilanian structures for comparison. He could go on at length enamored with the mystery of it.
Which is the precise moment when Karnak strides in. Considering that this is not a situation where she has to be incognito, she's in her normal attire, as opposed to the slightly more passable outfit. She then glances around, as the doorman barely gives warning that Karnak is on her way before she arrives. She then fixes her eyes on Maximus, "There are problems." Understatement of the year, really.
Maximus looks from Kaleb and that pleasant realm of…history land, towards the severe land of Karnak. "Are there? Do tell." A beat later. "Come in, make yourself at ease." He makes a casual gesture that is steeped in irony and slight annoyance.
Kaleb arched an eyebrow up at Karnak from the couch. The tiny details of her were taken in: efficient movements unwasted, strange markings, utilitarian dress. Interesting. Kaleb scanned Maximus noting the slight agitation and put a pin in that one for later. Company on business. He sat up ready for a more formal way of things. There was a nod for Karnak because manners, when she entered the room. "Evening." Looking back to Max he mused from his utterance, letting the sound hit Max's ear. "Last time people came by on business you wound up shirtless in the ocean. You might wish to grab one in case your people need you." Someone had to think of these things.
Karnak glances at Maximus, "Don't be coy. I know you have observed recent events. And Vesper is missing." She looks at Kaleb and just seems to disregard him as easily, not exactly a font of politeness as she continues, "I suspect it has to do with incoming visitors."
|ROLL| Rogue +rolls 1d100 for: 51
Maximus stood up and nodded to Kaleb. "I should get one." He says aloud, which would make little contextual sense to Karnak. "Karnak, this is Kaleb. Kaleb…this is my cousin, Karnak. I thought we solved the issue of the incoming visitors." He grins, at a slant, and stands so that he has to look to the side to see Karnak. Its a very…evasive posture. "Vesper is probably air. We are not fortunate enough for her to have succumbed to anything."
A dull circle permeates the air. Call it a sickened few strands blurring down the wall from within. Through that aperture of nothingness comes something small and metallic. It hits the ground and rolls, thanks to a relatively tube-like construction.
Kaleb watched so many things unspoken in the change of behaviour. Another pin went into that one for later. Karnak got a nod with the rudimentary formalities crisply out of the way, "Pleasure. Not to be insulting, but how is Attilan presently? I'll assume less than satisfactory." And yet was looking for elaboration. Had he Karnak's attention while Max was grabbing the shirt she's notice him getting to his feet smoothly and eyeing the disruption to the room that was unnatural, and to him, rather noisy. He did actually pause to move Max's coffee cup out of the way because you do that for people you care about and you do not want to see them ingest ichor or plaster or terrestrial…whatever.
Karnak frowns, "Not well." She blinks at the arriving tube, tensing ever so slightly as she studies the contraption intently. "Though, I suspect that it is not going to improve anytime soon."
The contraption looks like a tin can crowned by a ring of pineapple, except all in metal. The lid isn't soldered shut, merely latched by a rather crude lock. Rattling contents imply something metal in there, more than likely swaddled by paper. If Attilan had Coca-Cola, this would be the equivalent of someone tossing a can through a fading portal.
Maximus bends down and scoops up the tube, then taps one edge of it to open the missive, that he seems familiar with. "Lets find out, shall we?" Arrogance in his tone and every indication that he's not sharing things.
Kaleb nodded minutely back to the breviloquent cousin, offering to Max, "If it needs help, I'll go with you. He looked at the short pile of books thoughtfully. He wanted to learn this stuff to actually improve things, but they were broken now. Looking up to Max there was a small, resolute nod and he was as curious about the contents as everyone else in the room.
Karnak nods, "And I will be going, obviously." She gives Maximus a look of pure distrust, then shrugs slightly as, well, there's no help for it anyway.
The metal can opens without terrible difficulty, revealing a flat square embossed around the edges in thin metal strips laid on the diagonal. It's not much larger than a postage stamp. Paper envelopes the loose piece, scribbled in Tibetan: «Lockdown. Shit has hit. APs locked in their burrows. ?Bro. ?Princes. Fire@Tower. ??You??»
Kaleb set Max's coffee down so he could drink his own and he watched them huddle over a postage stamp. Not that he could read Tibetian but still asked, "Is it from Attilan or elsewhere?"
Maximus pulls out the note from the cannister and frowns as he reads it. He can feel his chest tighten and his stomach twist. He rubs his thumb over the surface. "This is…this may mean that Attilan has been…attacked." He swallows. This, of course, puts him on the same side as everyone else. "I am not…certain who it is from. Maybe one of my sp-" he glances at Karnak, "loyal subjects." he exhales. "We should go to Attilan to find out…if I can make contact with Lockjaw, or Tiberius. Karnak? Any insight to this?" He hands her the note. Then he looks to Kaleb, "It means I have to go on another trip. But…perhaps you would care to come along?"
Karnak shakes her head, "No, but it seems to be the logical step. Strike Attilan, and it cuts the head off the serpent. Metaphorically speaking." She frowns and looks at Maximus, "And I concur, we should find out what's happening." Because while she doesn't trust Maximus any further than she can throw him…
Actually, that's pretty far. Scratch that analogy. But still, she trusts him to act on the best interests of Attilan in general, filtered through his personal lens.
The metal square is cold to the touch. The ink on the paper is dry enough, and the cannister really lacks for anything remotely like an identifying sigil. No matter. At least to Karnak and Maximus, the object is commonplace, everyday, and totaly unremarkable.
Kaleb bit the inside of his cheek. Well his world wasn't the only one imploding this Summer. He took a deep breath and nodded to the question. Echo listed a hand to squeeze the back of Max's shoulder. "Yeha. You don't have to do this alone, Max. Your problems are mine, remember? Let me call my brother so he doesn't freak out." The hand lingered a moment not that he ever bothered to make contact with anyone ever, but apparently he made consessions. To the phone he went to let Kellan know 'Max's family home had some potential problems and he was going to help and be gone maybe a couple days'. He slammed the rest of his coffee and set it … wherever. They had people to worry about that sort of thing. "You need me to grab anything we might need?"
Maximus figits with the stamp and then presses it with his thumb. "Lets find out what we need." After that, he holds the small drive out in his palm. "Authentication, Maximus Boltagon."
Karnak nods and looks at the drive in expectation, arching a brow slightly towards Kaleb. Then she turns towards Maximus, waiting to hear what it has to say.
The three repeated tones have a curious flatness, the mono quality of the recording indicative the comm square isn't exactly the best made. Anywhere in Attilan's markets sell such a thing for a price. They are favoured more as instructional devices in the mines than anything else, given the limited replay and short storage. Its copper edging warms slowly to the limited battery power.
"Bong-bong-BING!"
There's no light to speak of. The projected voice is muffled and masculine, though even an alto woman might sound male through the distortion.
"Recording start." Programming into the message.
"Warning to Agon's sons, the city is in turmoil. Things started looking bad when the government sector went into lockdown. Malfunctions hit all kinds of systems. None of the life support ones. Engineers are saying the wards are holding up, thank Randac. Lights started blinking, projection screens all went down and came back up. We're seeing all sorts of junk displayed on the computers connected to the main networks.
"So /far/," the speaker stresses that, "the lower orders have kept in check. Guard's deployed everywhere. Someone locked the north and west quadrant mines, so no trouble from that side. But there's no one getting into the Tower of Wisdom, they say a fire happened there. There's a protection order on a whole chunk of residences, inconvenient to say the least. We've got the only flyer out there fixing a tower. No word when or if we can get anything more out.
"None dead. It's restless. Not sure how long we can keep order. Some people've spread the word it's the Kree, and they're coming to deliver justice. If they've found us and you're not here… it won't look good. I remain loyal. But the people fear."
Kaleb had no expectation of understanding this thing and instead quietly (imagine that) went through packing his bookbag. Trips? Well there was forewarning and he headed into the other room to presumably grab a few things. Karnak said it bad and max looked…concerned. That was all he needed. He came back with a second bag packed in efficient order. The Mutant stayed silent and watched for reaction, and gauged stress on tone. Yeah none of this felt optimistic.
Maximus makes a sniffing sound. "The short of it is, Kaleb, we go to Attilan." He looks to Karnak, "We are taking him. If we cannot find my brother, and yet need a voice to shake the walls, his will do." Maximus explains it in a strategic fashion. Can't have anything to do with emotion or anything. "We should be there. If the Kree are coming…" He looks sharply at Karnak.
Karnak nods, "If the Kree are coming, then we will take action. But… this seems a bit too convenient. And unlike what the Kree would do." She looks a bit contemplative, then hrms, "Blackagar will need to come to Attilan as well, particularly if this is the Kree."
If the Kree are coming…. roll out the red carpet, put some tarts in the oven, and get your Sunday best?
The little square has nothing more to say to the men and woman gathered in Maximus' apartment. Between the message in a box and the message in a bottle, the work of that bureaucrat ensconced somewhere in the grey humdrum world of running a hidden city is done. Maybe he earns his terrigenesis and lives out his days as a giant ladybug.
Kaleb blinked. Yeah, no pressure there. Still he didn't let any of the emotion of that show which was a disturbingly easy task for him. His eyes shifted between the two and an eyebrow arched. A nod in response followed. "We'll figure out how to do what we need to do." he paused and let the tension out of his shoulders a bit noting to Max, "We'll find your brother, Max." Words Max once said to Kellan, now repaid.
Maximus cannot teleport, personally. Its a technology he hasn't bothered to invent, since there are inhumans that can do it. The doggie with the fork is who he calls upon first, mostly because if he comes, he might answer some questions, "Lockjaw!" Just a little attempt there, to see if Mr. Woof-face is conscious or able to come. He totally doesn't care if Karnak has a bag packed or not. "Yes, we will find him." Said with a peculiar tone though.
Karnak gives Maximus a look at his peculiar tone, though she doesn't seem to be making any moves to get a bag or the like. If she's disturbed by possible fires at the Tower, she makes no reaction either way.
The deathly silence that answers Maximus probably has something to do with thinking Mr. Woof-face. Anyone actually know if the great big hound knows more than he lets on? Maybe he does. On the other hand, the last times Lockjaw was seen, he's been running around with ancient artifacts and attacking cables in the Tower of Wisdom, so….
Still. The absent pup is telling.
Kaleb grabbed his sunglasses and coat and their few things. He took a deep breath and looked around. Patio? Nothing. His brow furrowed. Hell, even Kaleb liked that damned dog, and he didn't even care much for most of his own family. "If other sources are preoccupied I can get a jet on the runway within the hour." His head swiveled from the outside back to the pair of cousins. His methods were slower, but he was serious when he said he'd help make this happen. "Crystal might be at the school? I can call her or try."
Maximus rubs his thumbs together. "Very well, by giant egg it is." He moves towards Kaleb and looks through the bag, just assuming that the man would put his usual effects in there. Its a marble he's looking for, and once he has it, he squeezes it with his thumb, which sends some sort of frequency signal to Tiberius, for a pickup. That's the Inhuman that remained loyal to Maximus during his reign, who has continued to teleport him via the giant weird egg thing. Kaleb's met him. Karnak surely knows him. "This could take some time, though."