More newbies. Kept showing up day after day. And Corwin would have continued not caring about them except that this one had said one of the buzzwords that almost never failed to grab his attention. He'd never seen this one before, but given his family? That didn't precisely matter, either. Still, he hesitated before responding, not even bothering to hide a disgusted sneer that found its way across his face at seeing that room again, the one that had trapped him here.
Sooner or later, he'd learn to stop and think before he spoke, rather than letting instinct take up all that hesitating time. Soldier's reflexes and all that.
Re: [Visual]midwestenDecember 2 2010, 08:40:41 UTC
Michael started at the voice coming from the -- podium? Pedestal? Never mind what it was saying, he wasn't expecting a response at all at this point: but, well, Michael Westen never looked a gift response in the mouth. He made his way gingerly over to peer at the thing and then planted himself in front of it, staring, with his hands on either side of the tablet.
"Hello?" he said to verify that the voice was coming from it.
It seemed to be. He blinked at it again, like it might metamorphose into something that made sense.
"This is Michael Westen," he tried. "Who am I speaking to?"
If he'd been the type, Corwin might have waved at the screen. But then he remembered that one of the things rather high up on his list of "things I hate" was not getting his questions answered and that certainly could not be construed as an answer not matter what way he turned it over and stared at it.
"That's all well and good, but I don't care who you are and 'hello' sure as hell doesn't answer my question. But if it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, welcome to Wonderland, Mike. Name's Corwin. Now how do you know Fiona?"
Re: [Visual]midwestenDecember 2 2010, 08:58:49 UTC
O-kay then. There were a lot of things Michael could say to that, like I don't actually know what's going on and for all I know I'm your prisoner and I'm really not in the mood for your attitude right now, pal, which he wasn't, but -- none of those were productive. Or to the point. It took him a moment to think of something that was.
"Okay," he said. "Let's rewind a moment -- I don't actually know where I am. Why don't we start with that and how I got here and then maybe we can talk about Fiona -- Corwin?"
[ damon salvatore is not the guy you want greeting new faces. largely because he's an asshat. but through the magic of taxon being boring today, he's on hand when the newcomer shows up. setting down his scotch, he keys his tablet to voice. ]
Sorry, Fi can't come to the phone right now. But leave a message and we'll make sure she gets it as soon as possible.
[ it should be noted that damon has the singular talent of sounding like he's leering. also, threatening death. AND ALL AT ONCE. ]
Re: [ voice ]midwestenDecember 2 2010, 09:26:14 UTC
Michael rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand. This was just far from real. "I'm a dollar-ninety-nine a minute if that's how it's gonna be, buddy," he said. "But I'm no good with the voices. Look, is this going somewhere or not?"
Re: [ visual ]midwestenDecember 2 2010, 10:12:59 UTC
This was one hell of a conference call. Not for the first time in the past five minutes, Michael was having a distinct feeling of being watched: by what or what camera, he didn't know, but he tugged at his purplish-pink shirtsleeve reflexively where it was covering the bracelet in his skin.
"Oh. Hi again. What's 'here'?" he said. "I guess it might be too much to ask where all your voices are coming from?"
Dude, nobody gave you the deal yet? [ faith sighs, pushing sweaty hair back from her face because taxon is really good at catching her mid-workout with that damn tablet chime. ] Sucks to be you, because I am a shitty welcome wagon.
There's a table thing in front of you, wicked expensive looking cell phone on top. Grab that, it'll open the door, and you can figure all the rest of this tablet shit out on your own because I freaking hate these things.
Re: [ visual ]midwestenDecember 2 2010, 20:04:07 UTC
Michael stared at the device. The device stared back at him, if devices could stare. He had a general aversion to tech other people provided for him a little too handily, but if they were going to track him, they'd use the bracelet.
"All right," he decided, and picked up the high-tech phone/BlackBerry/PDA-looking thing gingerly, like it might explode. "Oh. Okay." Her voice was coming from it. "Uh, thank you. Is there a door-opening button?"
On your tablet, you will see a young man sitting at a desk holding a pad and a pen. He smiles, closed-lipped.
"Hi there, uh.. my name is Spencer Reid and I'm doing research on arrivals and departures to and from Taxon. I was wondering if you could answer a few routine questions for me?"
Despite doing this several times so far for different people, it still hasn't completely dawned on him just how much explaining his questioning usually requires, or that people usually have no clue where they are.
Re: [visual]midwestenDecember 2 2010, 23:12:32 UTC
If this was Management, Michael was really starting to wonder what they were driving at. "Sure?" he said, scrutinizing Spencer Reid too to see if he recognized him. He didn't.
Re: [visual]midwestenDecember 2 2010, 23:26:39 UTC
"Michael Westen," said Michael, peering at the tablet and turning it this way and that. Was there an off button? Maybe something that turned the webcam off? Probably not the most diplomatic time to use it, right now.
"Yes. I mean... not your Mother or your friend, necessarily, but anyone." The young woman looked sympathetic. "Has anyone else told you what's going on yet?"
Tara knew how unsettling turning up in Taxon could be. It had to be all the worse if you didn't have a friend to greet you a few minutes later.
Re: [Visual]midwestenDecember 3 2010, 03:41:01 UTC
Either this was someone's fucked-up idea of good cop/bad cop or the girl on his new cell phone was offering to help him. It was the same tack either way. "Not really," he said brightly. "But there's a first time for everything. You mind filling me in, Miss...?"
"Maclay," she supplied. "I'm Tara Maclay. And you're in Taxon. It's..." She hesitated, just a moment, then said, "As best we can tell, it's sort of like a very strange zoo. For people." It wasn't terribly comforting, but he didn't look like the sort of person who'd appreciate having punches pulled.
Re: [Visual]midwestenDecember 3 2010, 20:36:02 UTC
Michael cradled the cell phone in one hand again and tapped at the icons: holo? What was holo, exactly? Focusing on this kept the tides of panic brought on by the word zoo at bay; not so much the zoo idea alone as the rising confusion and feeling that nothing he was doing was remotely getting a grip on his situation. "Zoo?" he said a bit flatly. "What do you mean, zoo?"
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Sooner or later, he'd learn to stop and think before he spoke, rather than letting instinct take up all that hesitating time. Soldier's reflexes and all that.
"Fi? You know Fiona?"
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"Hello?" he said to verify that the voice was coming from it.
It seemed to be. He blinked at it again, like it might metamorphose into something that made sense.
"This is Michael Westen," he tried. "Who am I speaking to?"
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"That's all well and good, but I don't care who you are and 'hello' sure as hell doesn't answer my question. But if it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, welcome to Wonderland, Mike. Name's Corwin. Now how do you know Fiona?"
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"Okay," he said. "Let's rewind a moment -- I don't actually know where I am. Why don't we start with that and how I got here and then maybe we can talk about Fiona -- Corwin?"
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Sorry, Fi can't come to the phone right now. But leave a message and we'll make sure she gets it as soon as possible.
[ it should be noted that damon has the singular talent of sounding like he's leering. also, threatening death. AND ALL AT ONCE. ]
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"Are we on conference or something here?"
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Something like that.
[ so basically damon is just in a 'let's frustrate people' mood today. have fun, michael! ]
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Yeah, pretty sure you're shit outta luck on that front, babe. Been here a while, nobody named Fi ever showed up.
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"Oh. Hi again. What's 'here'?" he said. "I guess it might be too much to ask where all your voices are coming from?"
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There's a table thing in front of you, wicked expensive looking cell phone on top. Grab that, it'll open the door, and you can figure all the rest of this tablet shit out on your own because I freaking hate these things.
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"All right," he decided, and picked up the high-tech phone/BlackBerry/PDA-looking thing gingerly, like it might explode. "Oh. Okay." Her voice was coming from it. "Uh, thank you. Is there a door-opening button?"
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"Hi there, uh.. my name is Spencer Reid and I'm doing research on arrivals and departures to and from Taxon. I was wondering if you could answer a few routine questions for me?"
Despite doing this several times so far for different people, it still hasn't completely dawned on him just how much explaining his questioning usually requires, or that people usually have no clue where they are.
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"Name?"
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Tara knew how unsettling turning up in Taxon could be. It had to be all the worse if you didn't have a friend to greet you a few minutes later.
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