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Kaleb tested this whole contact thing and as it works out, yes the Baxter Building can relay something as simple as a message to have Noh-Varr return a call and/or invitation. Who knew. Turns out Kaleb can actually be social if someone is deemed worth the time to speak to. Who knew? Unlike Billy Kaleb didn't cook, period. There were delightful people in the world who made food happen and he had the valet downstairs find the best damn Indian restaurant in Greenwich, so Biryani it was. Rice, optional meats, no beef. Good stuff. The turn table in teh other room was playing Herbie Hancock because it was that day, but at least with Kaleb in teh room it was oncert quality. TDrinking his coke he commented to Noh-Varr, and Maximus, "So I got to go to the future once. It was garrish but I heard the most remarkable thing. Noh-Varr, I don't suppose you brought anything to listen to that wasn't fused into rock on your ship?"
Maximus tilts his head at Kaleb from where he sits nearby. "Oh? And…what was the future like? Or…can you not say because that would be spoiling it?" He asks it in a sing-song manner. He's a man that is older than Kaleb by about ten years, though the difference isn't as pronounced as it might one day be. He has a lively, manic, expressive face, and his age is masked in it. Steel blue eyes slid over to noh-Varr, "Sooo…you are the one he's been talking about."
"You mean music?" Noh-Varr asks. "Most of the computer's files were destroyed before I got to this reality. Me and Plex, mostly Plex, were able to recreate the important ones to run the ship but music wasn't part of it." He seems to like Indian food or, at least, has no problems with the spiciness. "You've been talking about me?" he asks Kaleb. Understandable.
Kaleb actually looked disappointed. Like all of his emotions they were muted in expressiveness but that one wounded a tad, "I'll give you not-dying as a higher priority. I don't …think you've mentioned Plex to me before. That a computer sentience or another envoy, and" He took another bite letting his voice continue without need of the body as it floated ambiently, "I tend to mention people worth notice. You're smart. Have good taste. I respect this." He took another drink and looked back to Maximus with a thoughtful pause, "The clothes were awful the decor is worse, and I had to kill a friend in the future who shouldn't be able to be killed to crush a swarm parasite inhabiting him," He held up a finger to add in one more thing with some mild tone of optimism, "I did get to discover Earth Wind and Fire. They're going to be marvelous."
Maximus lids his eyes. "So…in the future, you kill your friend? Have you let him know that someday you are going to kill him?" Maximus seems very amused by this. "Did you look me up?" comes the curious question that just had to be asked. Then he looks over to Noh-Var. "I am Maximus Boltagon…by the way…"
"He's the ship's AI. I'd say they're standard on all Kree ships but I don't know if that applies here." Noh-Varr answers. "There can be a lot of differences from one reality to the next if they're far apart." Nodding to Max, he says "I remember though I don't think you mentioned your last name." Not that it seems to mean anything to him. "One of my people's experiments. Or rather, a descendant of them."
Kaleb paused looking slightly stumped parsing out what AI was and nodded as it seemed a computer program from context. Added matter of factly, "And a hero of his people. I know, I know, I have all the best company…" His brow furrowed and shook his head, "Except to Logan apparently. No, Maximus, I didn't get opportunity to do much other than yell at Logan and not die and break the machine that sent us there in the process." He pinched the bridge of his nose adding, "Yeah he thought I was joking. Here's to hoping he looks back on this moment someday. Outside of that? Didn't look great for my people so much. Lots of robots. Not a lot of Mutants."
Maximus frowns thoughtfully at the idea of giant robots being trouble for Kaleb's people. And deeper at being called an experiment. "The /best/ qualities of both." He insists as he lifts apple juice to his lips. "So, you have a space ship?" He glances to Kaleb. "Has he taken you for a ride?"
"Artificial intelligence." Noh-Varr clarifies at Kaleb's look. "The ship is disabled and can't be repaired. It's going to take some time to build a replacement." Considering Max a moment, he asks "How many of you are there now? Do you breed true?"
Kaleb aaaah'd nodding. The name pretty much said it all. At the questions of breeding habits of the Inhumans Kaleb just grinned with a chuckle and shook his head. Aaaah fun with genetics it was tonight. Though he did offer in good humor, "It's fused with rock. He's a little dead in the water, buuuut, he's devoting his time to helping my people out, which, iI haven't said formally, but thank you." Not heard often, but meant.
Maximus coughs. "I try to breed all the time, but…Kaleb has yet to be with child." He answers dryly with a crooked grin. "I am certain that I could fix the ship." Though fates only know what it would then /do/ then. "But…also…humans may not be prepared to see it scooting here and there."
"Fused with rock." Noh-Varr repeats, acknowledging Kaleb's thanks with a nod. "As in, the ship appeared underground and where there once was ship, there is now solid bedrock. Otherwise I'd fix it myself. And it would probably do your species good to become more familiar with the idea of other lifeforms. Maybe they'd stop killing each other once they realize that you're all the same."
Kaleb held up a finger and pointed to Maximus and then himself, "His people and my people are not the issue here. Humans make the governing decisons on Earth at the detriment and lack of agreement as we others. And again, if you want to take them with you when you go? Between you I and hte walls? I won't overly miss em too much. Until then? We can only agree with you on this. And no, we're not all the same. Very much am I not a human and.." He looked to Maximus and shook his head, "You definiately aren't." Max got another side glance and a shake of his head. Noooo plans to breed. At all. Much to his mother's lament.
"I have at least 3 different doomsday plans that could rid the world of normal humans in a variety of different ways. So..just let me know." Maximus offers casually, as if he were talking about ice cream flavors. "I would love to find out what is going on in your genetic code, Kaleb. We certainly are not the same as the rest of the world."
Noh-Varr shakes his head. "That's part of what's wrong with your race. You pretend minor genetic difference somehow separate you from the others. You're all human to within 99% of each other. Kree have interbred with aliens, producing the pink Kree, but we're all still Kree. The blue don't try to pretend we're some other species." Inferior is another matter. He gives a little shrug and goes back to eating.
|ROLL| Kaleb +rolls 1d20 for: 15
Kaleb took a deep breath, but instead of going to war with Noh-VarrKaleb jus trubbed the bridge of his nose, reached over, and gave Max's hand a squeeze. It stayed there for a moment. "No-Varr, when they stop hunting and dissecting my people then I'll freely associate with being compared to them. They took from me the few things I care about and fucked with my genetics. I cannot, and will not forgive until they have made amends and do better. But, that aside, in a global sense? Yes the Earth is a mess."
"It surely needs to stop being polluted. This /air/ is a mess. To that I will agree." Maximus looks at the hand over his own, and ponders behaving versus just getting into a glorious fight with the 'pink' Kree man. He drums the fingers of his other hand, thoughtfully. "So, you don't remember any of the Kree music?"
"Who said anything about forgiving?" Noh-Varr asks. It's rhetorical. "But it was the Celestials who fucked with your genetics. About a million years ago. That's how the gene for mutation entered your species. It took a very long time for circumstances to activate it." LIfting his glass, he settles back in his chair. "I remember it. I don't play it. I wasn't trained in music."
Kaleb left his hand there. Maybe it was for Max, or for himself. He wasn't thinking too hard on this, but he also wasn't calling for war or taking Noh-Varr up on an invite for invasions either. The last bit of news had him look to Max, arch an eyebrow and then look back to Noh-Varr, "Celestials? I would love to hear more about who to send a thank you card to. But no. I mean in revcent history humans have been taking my people, and myself included, and dissecting us and forcibly trying to alter our genetics." Picking apart some naan with his free hand he asked curiously, "So these Celestial cats, who are they?" Looking back to Max he ventured to even ask him, "You familiar?"
Maximus lifts the other hand and shakes his head. "Mutants are far too recent to have been accomplished by beings a million years ago. I know you hate the M-word, Kaleb, but I want to be clear who I'm talking about." He lids his eyes and grins faintly. "Soooo…what can you do? Anything…special?" He asks nosily of Noh-Varr.
Noh-Varr glances from Kaleb to Max and back then considers. "Okay. This is how I heard it but I can't say for certain it's exactly how it happened or why. But the what of it all is fact. A very long time ago, before the start of everything, long before this reality existed, was the First Firmament. The very first and only universe. It got lonely being the only intelligence in existence and created servants. Or maybe it just wanted others around to admire it. Some of the servants went off and created beings themselves. Perfect ones that maintained the status quo. But others decides to create beings that changed. Evolved. These were the Celestials. The two sides eventually went to war against each other and the First Cosmos was shattered, creating the multiverse and the Second Cosmos. The servants are still around, both the Aspirants and the Celestials." To Max specifically, he says "The gene wasn't activated until recently. It was implanted into your species a million years ago. When my people came to this solar system, we saw it immediately. Why do you think we began our own experiments and produced your people?" What can he do? He laughs. "Many things. I was designed to be superior to most Kree warriors."
Kaleb wasn't going to tell a man with a spaceship and a blueprint from another dimension he was wrong. There was a lot to take in there but of all of it pulled out, "So the universe, reality, whatever broke up like a plant and reseeded. Soooo all the realities are descended from the same family tree? I mean I'd say fragments of a plate; from teh one, many, but it's organic." 19, but not totally in the dark. He paused and said a little pleased with himself, "See, I paid attention when the Genetic Council was running their mouth." He tossed Max a brief wink and then took away the other part, "Sooo wiat you're saying They made us and we took a while to actually express that genetic sequence so the Kree got impatient and started playing chemist so Max and his people were made trying to be, but coming out as a genetically cleaner version of a being trying to be us?"
Maximus tugs his hand away from Kaleb and folds his arms across his chest. "And fools once believed that humans came from apes. Whatever story your people have told you…unless you have recently interviewed one of these…creator beings…it might as well be four pillars being held up by /dwarves/…or a flat disc on top of a turtle." He arches both brows and grins far too broadly for a sane person.
"It's said the Celestials caused an incredibly powerful explosion which fragmented the First Cosmos and, incidentally, won them the war." Noh-Varr elaborates. "From that comes all the realities as the ones that were created then have each since branched off and then those branched off etc." Finishing his drink, he pours himself more. "They didn't make you exactly. They inserted a gene into a part of your population then left. What exactly triggered it, I don't know. Seeing it in your genetic code, the Kree decided the potential to turn you into soldiers to deploy against the Skrull was too tempting to resist and started their own genetic experiments. It failed though and was abandoned. This was also a very long time ago. And I've encountered Aspirants. We call them Astro-gods."
Kaleb stretched and really considered that. Side glancing at teh ever shifting depeanor of the once and sometimes King and back to the Captain he considered the greater picture not at all outwardly dismissing it. Glancing back to Max he offered salve for ego and said, "Well I don't think they failed. They missed out from being impatient and time will teach this. Either way, we're not kneeling and that too is good."
"Yes…/definitely/ not kneeling. Is there /anything/ else we can speak of, before I start redesigning my doomsday devices?" Maximus presses his lips into a line, his eyes a little brighter than they ought to be.
Noh-Varr watches Maximus a moment then shrugs. "Your Ella Fitzgerald is very good." he offers.
Kaleb chuckled and leaned over, with a wry grin, "Remember, Max, plans that don't suit the intent of others only suit us in the long run. Also? he's helping my people out. We like this one. Still." A hand squeezed Max's knee before he got up to go and change out the records. "She's an amazing talent. She'll be at the Apollo I think this summer." Such care went into looping the arm so there were no scratches to the vinl. Glancing back to teh men int eh main room he suggested, "We should go."
"Concerts? Certainly. I will go. Though I lament that no one in this country sings music similar to what we have in Attilan." Maximus replies a little wistfully. "But its very…Tibetan. Many bells. Still, I would go with you if only to see you in the blue suit again."
"I would go. I'd like to see her doing that thing with sounds with no meaning." Noh-Varr agrees. "I heard a song of her doing that with a man also singing and they go back and forth. But that's then. Now though, I should go."
Kaleb chuckled and offered, "Scat. I'll make this happen." The smile was void of ego actually enjoying geting to share what was best of the world. "Noh-Varr… again, appreciated. I'll catch you at Billy's this weekend I imagine." Looking back to Max words came without him pushing them, "Frank Sinatra? He's the standard. We should go to Vegas and see him there."
Maximus looks away from the two of them, like he's totally distracted by something across the restaurant. When Noh-Varr gets up to leave, he just looks at the pale-haired man before nodding simply, once. Then he's silent. Until he leaves. Its only until afterwards that he speaks, "You know I know none of these people. I simply trust your ear. You are the one between us that is a fine judge of music."
Kaleb walks back in from his room letting Ella play as it was also a good suggestion and said with a serious expression, "Well that's because you are one of the foremost brilliant minsds on this globe, and I have absolutely exceptional taste which is why… I asked you to dinner." He was not above throwing facts back to him. Truth was its own flattery. He paused though and wondered, "He could be right. But even if he is, what of it? We're still better."
"you may like him, but we seem at odds. He cannot acknowledge that Inhumans are better. And yes, the product of genetic engineering, but, at the same time, so is he. It was not a /failed/ experiment. It was an abandoned one, and I do not forget that the Kree would very much like to take it back, now. But i am also aware that many people do not find me as charming as you." Max looked up at him as he wandered back into the room.
Kaleb looked to Maximus with a tilt of his head, "Well what was true in his world very much may not be in this reality. And…" Kaleb stopped, hands in pockets and sleeves rolled to teh elbow, but even so still teh tie and waistcoat because damn the heat the kid had style and thatcame first apparently. Still, he pragmatically concluded, "No one is taking anyone anywhere. Not your people, not my people, and not us. FOr now? For not Noh-Varr helps and he still ahs his head up his ass because he thinks removing what makes us ourselves and more like them fixes the problem, like Billy, and like others." Blue eyes blinked and he just looked around at the apartment for an audience he may or may not hear, "Seriously, I think we need some better language for this shit. But yes, I think you're wise in recognizing that the Kree, here, didn't leave this as doomed, they amabdoned it to propegate and being wary of their return as we have see? Smart."