maskormenacelogs | Cause we got the fire

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Cause we got the fire - OPEN

WHO: Hermann & YOU
WHERE: Local Virginia Prison
WHEN: May 1st-23rd
WHAT: Hermann's been sentenced to prison for his crimes against the government. Come have a chat!
WARNINGS: None for now- tba.

In the interest of maintaining order, visits are conducted in a private room. Visitors are led in and sat on one side of a glass partition, opposite a door leading into the inner bowels of the prison itself.

A door that unlocks and opens with the loud echo of a complex mechanism. Clad in bright orange, wrists and ankles cuffed, Hermann's brought through supported by a pair of flanking guards. His pinched expression betrays discomfort, and a heavy hand on his shoulder pushes him to sit. He throws a positively poisonous look at the offending guard as he's chained to the desk- a tight veneer of disapproval that doesn't completely fade while he examines his visitor.

It isn't until the guards leave and the door has shut that Hermann leans back, raising his eyes in a silent gesture toward the cameras tucked into the corners of the ceiling. Alone perhaps, but ever presently monitored as a matter of course.

Hermann picks up the receiver with a look for his visitor to do the same.

"I appreciate you taking the time out of your schedule to come visit." A sentiment that may or may not be true, depending on the visitor in question. If in doubt, take it with a grain of sarcasm. "As you've seen, I'm afforded every courtesy here."

And okay, that last bit is very clearly sarcastic.

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"I'm surprised you didn't have a plan for handling it, honestly." Jacob shrugs, his eyes flicking toward the floor. "From what I saw on the news, it sounds like you were expecting this. Did you want to be caught? Or is this where you tell me you were mind-controlled?"

Adding to the awkwardness is the fact that the last time he saw Hermann, he had been trying to put him into captivity on government authority- in the sick dream world where Jacob was a Soviet pawn, not a RISE agent.

Jacob wonders how much Hermann remembers of their strange remote battle. He remembers every moment, even the parts he wishes he could forget.

Hermann sighed, sounding very nearly wistful.

"Yes, I could have run- teleported away to another country altogether. But where would that have gotten me, Mr. Taylor?" The man in front of him didn't feel like the 'Jacob' he'd spoken with at the wedding. Whether or not that was a holdover from the Dream or the undercurrent of anxiety about the man's position in RISE was difficult to say.

He leaned forward, expression serious. "I'd be a fugitive, and I've already spent twelve years of my life under threat. I refuse to live in fear any longer. Bad enough I spent days waiting to be arrested at any given moment."

Squeezing his eyes shut, Hermann rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I am tired. I didn't want to have to do things this way, but at least I can look forward to going home after I've served my sentence here."

"It would have gotten you further away from the communal showers, for one thing," Jacob says wryly. But then his expression becomes more serious, and he nods with sympathy as Hermann rubs his nose.

"Still. It takes guts to cross a line like you did- but a lot more guts to own it, and stick around to accept the consequences. So I get it." In Hermann's place, he probably would have wanted to get things over with rather than draw out the suspense.

"There is that."

And not for the first time, he wondered about the line where bravery crossed over with desperation. Tired of feeling like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop, Hermann decided to address the matter directly.

"You aren't just here on a social visit, are you?"

Jacob sighed a little, and shook his head. "Afraid not," he admitted. "What you were arrested for is a national security issue. RISE has to at least take an interest in your case."

He leaned forward, rested his elbows on the desk, eyes locking with Hermann's through the glass partition. "So help me. Tell me what information you were after- and why."

That national security issue was also why he was in prison rather than jail.

Hermann's fingers curled into his palm, caught between wanting to tell him, and worried about the consequences of doing so. He intended to release his conclusions once he'd gone through all the data himself, and then the nature of his 'attack' would become clear. But that was at least two months in coming.

"Nothing sinister," he attempted to assure. "I'm a mathematician, Mr. Taylor- not a terrorist. The reasoning is rather simple: I need data, and the government has refused to cooperate."

"I believe you," Jacob said. It was immediate, and it was earnest. He had fought beside Hermann, attended his wedding. Barring evil clones or brainwashing, he was certain that Hermann had no malice in mind when he broke the law.

"But other people might not," he added after a moment. "I'm sure there are people wondering right now if you had another agenda. Or if whatever weakness you found could be used by the Soviets. It's better if you get the truth out there now, before it gets clouded by bullshit."

He raised a hand, palm up, inviting. "What kind of data did you need? What was so important it was worth ending up here?"

Jacob knew what would make him cross the line like that. He didn't have to speculate because he had crossed it on multiple occasions: Cerberus, Archangel. The temptation to go beyond assigned boundaries in order to protect people could be damn strong, especially when the system kept failing. Which left him with a natural sympathy for whatever Hermann's intentions had been.

Hermann hadn't realized how much he'd needed that assurance until Jacob gave it. For all his caution now, he still respected the man and hoped that perhaps it remained mutual. He relaxed, shoulders dropping and regarding the RISE agent with a touch less suspicion.

What did it matter if he told him, after all? He had the data, and it was out of reach to most anyone- even Newton.

"Very well," he said sighing, and switched the receiver to his other ear. "In the interest of clearing up any troubling rumors before they get out of hand, I broke into government records. Port-in and port-out dates of every imPort that's ever come into or left this world. With that sort of information, I could sequence the data and begin to piece together the Porter's internal algorithm- effectively understand its patterns of behavior. For all the rumors of its sentience, it is yet a machine programmed to perform certain actions, and it's certainly within my capabilities."

Edited 2017-05-09 02:33 (UTC)

Jacob listened, and thought. The science and mathematics behind what Hermann was describing were all theory to him, but he grasped the general gist: get more information about the Porter's operation, understand more about the Porter. Understanding the purpose behind this was another matter. Jacob had long ago accepted that the Porter was dangerous technology best left with as little interference as possible. Dreams of comprehension and control were, at best, a doubtful hope to him.

"You think this data could let you predict the Porter?" He asked, frowning slightly. "Why? I can get why it would be nice to know more about the thing. But was it really important enough to end up here?"

"Why?" Hermann parroted back, a touch incredulous. He tampered down a flash of old anger with a measured exhale. This was not college or even the Academy.

"My conclusions will answer the questions every single imPort asks: How long are we here for? How likely is it that someone may be returned to their world? And those are just from the numbers. We'll pinpoint outliers and lay the groundwork for further research. Have the insight to start those avenues of research."

It was here that Hermann's body language grew more animated; straightening up, gesturing with one hand, his good leg bouncing a bit under the table.

"Does the Porter's behavior change during certain windows of time? Does it coincide with the rumors of its possession? How do those entities behave differently from the machine and what are their priorities?"

Questions he could only theorize the answers for, now within reach- or would be soon enough.

"And then we can start getting philosophical about our purposes here and such, but I'll leave that to someone more qualified to handle those aspects." He waved it off, but looked no less interested in the prospects.

"So you see Mr. Taylor, I consider this research to be of vital importance. The government however, does not, and that is why I'm here."

It was the first time Jacob had really seen Hermann get worked up over science, witnessed the passion the scientist had for his work, the flame inside of his body. He was somewhat impressed, if unconvinced about the value of answering those questions.

"You took a big risk," he said, leaning back from the glass. "But it sounds like you meant well. At least I'll be able to convince my superiors you're not working for the Russians." Not that it had been a serious suspicion, but you could never know in this political climate. "So what happened to the data you got? Last I heard, they hadn't retrieved it."

Hermann was far from a born actor, but he tried for some measure of surprise. Jacob was deluding himself if he thought he'd reveal that information.

"Did they finish rifling through my laptop? I know they confiscated it, and they'd best not have ruined it. An old friend that's no longer here put it together for me. Not that I'm incapable of repairing it, but files are delicate creatures and I had a great deal stored on it."

Of course the laptop was a decoy and he'd have been an idiot not to have backed up everything beforehand. The real data was on a stick in Qubit's old underground lab. With no doors or passages leading to it, only teleport types could reach it. And it was the one secret Newton seemed capable of keeping.

"Though I suppose if I were them, I'd wipe it for good measure. Unfortunate. I hope the encryptions gave them trouble."

Jacob tilted his head and gave Hermann a Look, folding his arms.

"Come on, Hermann," he said with an air of tiredness. "You and I both know you would have made a backup. What is it? A hidden thumb drive? Secure cloud server?" He made another inviting gesture.

"If we can get that data, we can confirm your story. More people will understand what you were trying to do- how important it was."

It had always been a long shot. Hermann couldn't pretend to be an idiot if his life depended on it. He sighed and gestured loosely.

"You know I can't tell you that. You're a RISE agent, and RISE works with the government. If you found it, you'd have some obligation to have it confiscated, and my imprisonment would mean nothing."

Hermann shook his head, resigned.

"No. It's unfortunate, but if people want to consider me a criminal, they'll do so. I'll release my conclusions once I've had time to thoroughly study the data, and everyone will be free to decide how they feel about my intentions then."

Jacob sighed. His own attempt at interrogation had been a long shot as well. He was always more comfortable in a stand-up fight than playing with this side of law enforcement. It was part of the job.

"You know they could put you under surveillance once you're out, right?" He asked. "Track you when you go to retrieve the data, then take it back. How far are you really willing to take this?"

Because it was digging at him. Hermann obviously hadn't acted impulsively here. He had carefully, reasonably, and meticulously planned to challenge national security without remorse and with full preparation to accept consequences.

Which raised the question of whether this was a one-time thing, or the start of a renegade career. A path Jacob didn't want to see Hermann heading down.

"Only as far as I need to." It wasn't his intention to start down a criminal career path, but he needed answers, and those answers required some degree of law-breaking.

"You know what my abilities are, Jacob. The government doesn't have any hope of tracking anything I do."

The unfortunate side of which was that the data was even out of his own reach until his powers were restored. But it's best that way; he can't defend it very well like this.

"Yeah. That's what I'm afraid of. I've got an idea of how strong your abilities really are. I'd hate to-"

Jacob trailed off suddenly. He was about to say 'end up on the other side as you,' only to remember that he already had. He remembered the battle in the Dream, watched by unseen eyes tossing spears and concrete blocks at him from out of nowhere. Fighting a renegade imPort on behalf of an authority that wanted to control them.

He shook his head. This wasn't the same- at least, that was what he told himself. "I'd hate to see what happens if you decide you need to keep pushing things."

He'd almost expected a threat in Jacob's hesitation, and perhaps it was, albeit milder. Complicated by the fact that he liked and respected Jacob and would rather maintain their friendship instead of setting them against each other with this.

Hermann frowned down at the chain keeping him in place. There were plans still, though they'd need the backing to pull them off, and there would almost certainly be consequences- though perhaps not from any government or law enforcement agency.

"I'm a scientist, Jacob, and we need data to contribute significantly in any way. When you return with your report, perhaps mention that this incident was a direct result of a lack of government cooperation and transparency."

No threats from Jacob- not for Hermann, not over this. But he visibly wasn't happy, and frowned as he stood up to leave.

"I'm not going to do that," he said firmly. "My report's going to say this happened because you made it happen. You chose to become a criminal, Hermann. I hope you're ready to deal with the consequences of that."

An impasse then, with the threat of the first nail hanging in Jacob's voiced intent. Their friendship would suffer for this. Hermann wanted to be angry, spite stirring in the back of his mind and ready to hammer home the rest of them because his real talents always lay in a sharp, fly-away tongue.

But looking up at Jacob, he found himself more disappointed than angry. He'd hoped Jacob could understand, but it appeared the man's morality held few shades of grey. Only the end result mattered- not the intent behind it. Typical soldier.

"I did what I believed was necessary. If that makes me a criminal, I'll live with it."

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Cause we got the fire - OPEN

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