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WHO: Kate Bishop and Ellie Langford
WHERE: A sushi restaurant. ... A cheap sushi restaurant.
WHEN: Evening. ... At some point in time that means this should've been up sooner.
WHAT: Eating! Discussing how the government is screwing them over. Just friendly chats.
WARNINGS: Nothing, probably!

Finding cheap Japanese is kind of a crapshoot, but after a day spent working to secure a job of her own (albeit not entirely sure she's succeeded), she feels like she can risk trying risky Japanese. Logic tells Kate that she shouldn't be taking a risk, but it's better to try it than to not—which is a value she's starting to live by more and more. Being here has coaxed her into recklessness, and some part of her is fully cognizant that things would be different if there were anyone closer to her here. Loki is close, even if the two of them are at odds on the subject, but he benefits from her recklessness.

Of course, there is a difference between being reckless and declaring yourself unsettled (basically declaring herself as a vigilante, which is what her arm now states) and trying sushi. Kate's fairly certain that Chilton could find a very near comparison between the two, but she's also careful not to let their conversations get too psychoanalytical.

It's been years since she's done therapy. And she doesn't resent therapy—it was necessary. It was important. At the same time, she needs to be beyond that. Otherwise, what would the point of this all be?

Kate isn't much of a martyr. Not for the sushi restaurant population of Heropa, and certainly not for the superhero community. She'll try, she'll fight, but she is being careful. Plus, she doesn't want to drag anyone down with her.

Naturally, this would beg the question of why she is here—specifically here, specifically having this meeting. Kate's rational enough to know the difference between protecting people and letting them make their own choices, though she intends to be careful not to drag anyone into her messes. Thankfully, everyone's being cautious enough that things seem to be all right on that front.

Either way, she waits out front of the small restaurant for Ellie, dressed down and sunglasses (the very same pair—it's not like she has a bunch right now) hanging off the front of her shirt. Much to her chagrin, her new identity has necessitated longer sleeves in order to keep the public from checking her identity. No, she'd much rather keep that to herself, though it's possible many of them will know anyway.

She's fiddling with her phone while she's waiting. What else is there to do? (And it's not like dataplans are a thing. She has to take advantage of some perks.)

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There were a lot of things that Ellie wanted to say during her conversation with Kate, but paranoia had won over. The last few years of her life had taught her that there was never too much paranoia. The government was always listening and there was always something they were hiding. There was no reason to for her to trust what they were saying, at least not at complete face value. There was also no reason to talk on their network about just how paranoid she was. Still, she was curious to talk to Kate in depth, so she suggested the in person meeting.

When she arrives at the restaurant she's just got a simple pair of jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt. She's got the same idea as Kate when it comes to not wanting to risk anyone noticing the tattoo. She offers a smile as she walks up.

"I haven't had Japanese in years." It's an attempt at a greeting that keeps things light.

Ellie's statement seems loaded, and not in a bad way. Kate's impression of where she comes from is that the world is deeply unpleasant, in part because of the progression of the destruction of the environment and everything in-between. Also, there were apparently aliens, but she's not certain she has a very full picture of it all. It's very likely she doesn't, but Kate herself has seen enough dilapidated worlds in her recent past (sometimes caused by her alternate universe ex-boyfriend) that she's got a steady enough imagination.

Well, she has that and a bucket full of compassion.

There are some things that don't need prying, and that statement is one of them. "Then let's hope this place measures up somewhat." From the appearances of it, she has her doubts, but there is still a possibility. Without waiting, she turns to head inside, assuming Ellie's following.

She does follow and shrugs as they step inside. "At the very least it'll be an improvement over military rations." Which was what she's been living on, so even if this place sucks she's cool. She waits for Kate to do the whole getting a table thing, mostly because she's not completely certain how this works in this time period. She gets the feeling it's not too different, but she's not overly interested in embarrassing herself. It's already starting to make her feel a bit awkward that she's had to ask for elaboration when it comes to certain things, like Red Bull.

"Even grilled cheese is better than that," she throws over her shoulder before she asks for a table for two. Although she does, the setting isn't terribly formal. Even asking might not have been necessary, but they're led with thin, flimsy, laminated menus just the same to a spot in the corner. Kate slides into her seat and grabs her menu to look it over, although she checked it out online prior to arriving ... and saw the menu outside as well. Memory served her on what she wanted and what was there, as it always did, so it was largely for the sake of necessity.

"Rations aside, how're you liking your housemates so far?"

"Pretty much," she smiles as she takes a seat and looks at the menu blankly for a second. Somehow something this normal seems like the greatest challenge of her life. She shrugs while still looking over the menu.

"So far they seem alright. One's a bit questionable and I haven't seen any of another, but the ones I have spoken to are nice. What about you?"

"Not bad so far, but they're ..." How does she put it? The disorienting part isn't just that they know her. Part of it is that Kanaya happens to be so literal that Kate has a hard time with her. But that's not something she'd say. "Well, I'm hoping the roommate arrangement continues well. We're not of the same mindset on some things." The look that crosses Kate's features after that seems to indicate that some of those things specifically mean the reason why she and Ellie are talking right now.

"But hey, they haven't asked me to leave," she adds quickly. So, there's that.

Ellie's pretty sure she can guess what the differences in mindsets are. She can definitely see how awkward that might be to have differing opinions on what to do about things here.

"At least there's that," she smiles slightly as she says it. "I'm hoping everyone can at least try to understand and respect different opinions and decisions people may make."

"The bright spots are worth it. I'm not sure if I can find an old married couple that will let me babysit their cat again." Which is a statement without the anecdote attached, but that is the way Kate feels on the matter. She doesn't know how many people are afraid, and her conversations have led her to believe she should be more worried about that than she had been previously.

"Either way, we're here for a reason, right? Do you have anything you'd like to discuss?" Kate's said her piece a couple times already, so she figures Ellie might want to ruminate over a specific subject.

Ellie arches an eyebrow. "Do I even want to ask about that?" She nods at the question though and then hesitates for a second as she tries to think of precisely how she wants to word what she's thinking of.

"There were a lot of things I wanted to say when we were speaking earlier." She hesitates for a second again. "I know it's possible we're being listened to right now, but I feel much more secure in person than I do on their Network." Which she's certain makes her sound exceptionally paranoid, but she's okay with that. "You said you had experience with things like this, well, in my own way so do I. I learned the hard way that the government keeps too many secrets to ever be trusted. The more I learn about this place, the more I think that's true."

"Unplanned vacation and my dad killed my credit card," she explains quickly, offhandedly, knowing full well that it might make her look bad. For all of Kate's competence, her flaws come up in the places where she wishes they didn't. She's young, and like Clint says, she's a brat.

Either way, she relaxes, focusing on the rest.

"Have you managed to speak to any of them? I spoke to the captain, and some of Holiday's statements aren't backed up by the facts." Truthfully, Kate doesn't know if she should believe the heap of evidence or him, but she's leaning toward the evidence. Given what they're capable of here, anything can be doctored.

Ellie chuckles at the explanation, she can't help herself. She's not going to comment on it though beyond the slight chuckle. She does however shake her head at Kate's question.

"I haven't spoken to any of them personally, no. Someone else from my home has though, specifically Captain Holiday. He relayed the information he got to me." Isaac had seemed to think he was alright, but Isaac's opinions were often colored with rose-tinted glasses. "Are you talking about any specific things he told you?"

"That's right, he indicated that they never had any control over the machine that brings us in. There was a brief instance, but it doesn't match the fact that there were imPorts before. Now, I understand government cover up, but there are facts. On the one hand, we can assume that they might have lied about any imPorts being sent home before they disabled the machine. I haven't ignored the possibility. The other one is that they did control bringing us here, and they want to say they didn't so they can insist upon registration." For Kate, it's a long enough explanation, but it does show her hand enough so that Ellie understands what she's been able to find. She's still not certain, but the last thing Kate wants to do is question Holiday on something and find out different information ... a second time. If she does get there, she'd like to have some solid ground to stand on.

Especially right now. Kate has a feeling that more than ever, she needs that.

Ellie nods as Kate speaks. "It seems like the one universal thing with governments is that they're all good at covering things up." The bitterness and anger seeps through her voice with that statement despite attempts to keep it out. "It's also possible it's a mixture of both of the things you suggested. They could have lied about the imPorts being sent home before they disabled the machine and be lying about the fact that they didn't control bringing us, and the previous imPorts, here."

That's probably the most paranoid possibility that Ellie had let herself think on, it rests on assuming that the government is made up completely of scumbags that are lying 100% about everything to everyone. She's not completely certain if that's entirely fair to assume yet, after all currently they've done nothing too terrible to anyone.

"Unfortunately, there aren't many ways to be certain about any of it, so except for the fact that based on what you've found and what my friend found, it does seem like they're leaving things out." Either on purpose, which was what she was going with, or because they really don't know. "They haven't let any of us near the Porter have they?"

"Outside of arrivals, they haven't," she says, thinking that through. Kate doesn't think she could make much of it, anyway. When it comes to electronics, or even technology, her knowledge is limited. She's ace at her Stark Phone, but that doesn't come with too much of a knowledge mountain to climb.

It does, however, occur to her that while she's excellent with her Stark phone, someone would be better. Tony Stark, no matter what allegiances he has, should look into it. She makes a note of that. It's all a matter of motivating him.

"But that could be a government conspiracy or there being no point. Again, they have some leeway."

"Why would there be no point?" she asks. There's too many different people here that might be able to figure things out about the porter for it to make sense to keep them away. Unless they don't want imPorts finding things out about it.

"What they they told me," she says, quite easily. "What they told me is that they can't figure out how to get into the technology. That it's out of this world's league." Kate doesn't know what to make of that, but would it be out of her world's league? She wouldn't be able to tell, which is the unfortunate part.

"I have a hard time believing it'd be out of my world's league." The statement isn't said in an arrogant tone. "Even if it was, I've had plenty of experience with helping to decipher alien technology. I imagine there are probably other people here with some impressive knowledge too."

Kate thinks about that. If it's outside of Tony's ability to understand something, then that doesn't mean it's outside of anyone else's. And that doesn't mean that Ellie can't look into it. "You can try. I bet you can even say you want to help them. Bringing in new people all the time has to be a tax on their resources."

Edited 2014-03-22 23:47 (UTC)

"Maybe I should try. I have a funny feeling that they won't go for it though." In fact she wasn't going to bet money on the idea that they might let her check it out.

"Hey, trying gives us an idea of just how much lip service they're giving us," she offers. "And that's something."

"If I do try, I'll make sure to let you know what happens," she replies with a nod.

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