2009-10-12: Crinklecrapsticks

Starring:

Gene_V4icon.pngBert_V4icon.png

Date: October 12th, 2009

Summary:

Gene and Bert get a bit of a surprise.


"Crinklecrapsticks"

Rural NY

"My back still hurts. I think it's that burn that requires more than some dang male nurse coming in and putting some dang lotion on my dang back! Get in here or I'll use keep using this strong language!"

As per usual, the prisoner known as Gene Kensington is being mouthy. Of course, there is no one currently IN the tent, which makes it that much easier to be the bad boy. Of course, there is likely a guard or two outside, but they have yet to announce their presense, likely only due to the orders of the higher higher up Gene talked to earlier.

Gene still has shirt off, kept moderately warm through a space heater that is aimed at his front… The back still has a few burns here and there, though the more serious ones have been bandaged with gauze and changed so often.

Outside the tent, there's a flurry of activity and four armed guards enter through the flap. This isn't in response to the strong language or the shouted complaints..

"Again with the guards, isn't this overkill? I swear this is ridiculous!"

That would be a rather familiar voice to Gene and the owner of said voice enters behind the four, with another two behind her. Bert's dressed down in jeans, tshirt and a jacket thrown over that. It's likely she was grabbed with little notice for this excursion. "I don't see what all the fuss is about, if this person you caught is… GENE!?" She stops in her tracks, jaw dropping and nearly hitting the ground as she gapes.

"Aw crinklecrapsticks," Gene mutters under his breath. They brought HER in? Out of all the people in the government. Maybe it is because of their link that theyhad her come in, Gene doesn't pretend to know. Of course, the woman comes in and it is exactly who he feared. There is a long awkward pause. This is a moment that defines relationships. MAKE OR BREAK, GENIE BOY!

"Um…. Whazzup?"

Bert starts to take a rushed step forward before two of the guards closest to her, grab her arms, "You know the protocol Miss Sachs."

"Oh for crying out.. I KNOW this man, he's not a terrorist!," Bert snaps before shaking off one of the men. "Gene, what in the HELL were you doing? WHY are you even here?" She stares at the bound man, a pleading expression in her brown eyes. It's clear she wants to make another rush for poor Gene. "Don't you worry, you're not going to be here long. I'll get to the bottom of this and get you freed!"

The guards don't look as naively hopeful as she.

The young genius looks away as Roberta tries her best to get to Gene. He isn't sure if this is better or worse than her assuming he was evil. "If my grandfather couldn't get me out, I don't think you'll be able to get much futher…" Gene admits before looking toward Bert. His eyes are firm at first, but the longer he looks at Bert's eyes, the sadder they become. It's like watching a puppy whimper at you, the young geek's heart stronger… but far from hardened. "I was trying to find a woman that needed my help. Apparently, this is what she needed help from. I didn't know there was government here until they fired on me and my friends. I only fought to protect them, nothing more." Of course, that fact that those two were Gene's friends might be 'relayed' back to whoever is deciding what to do with Gene… Of course, it might be considered another lie, as Gene has not been the most cooperative of prisoners.

"He was found aiding terrorists," one of the guards feels the need to clarify. Roberta ignores him withdraws her cellphone and hits a number on speed-dial. "Senator, this is Roberta Sachs. I'd like to see you as soon as I get back to DC, thanks," she says, leaving a message for Wynn. Message left, she flips her phone shut and pockets it. "What was all the stuff you had with you? I was called to identify a few things and since a lot of it was marked from EvoSoft.. oh Gene, why'd you get in such a mess!?"

"Trying saving my friends!" Gene exclaims with a rage filled voice, his tone heightened with pain and frustration. He lunges forward as he does, like a lion as it roars. However, Gene is a wounded animal, so the pain swiftly catches up. He winces as he tries to rotate the shoulders to ease the suffering. It doesn't work, so the 'terrorist' just gives a deep sigh before going on.

"Listen, Bert, I could explain everything, but in the end, it's only going to be my word verses the stuff people are telling you here. It's going to be up to you to look for the truth yourself. Like I did for Pinehearst. Find the facts, they don't lie. Don't let people tell you the truth is, especially Senator Wynn. This government has become a place where they decide what is good and evil for the American people. When you find the truth, you'll find why I'm here. Trust me when I didn't expect to find the government here, but in looking back, I shouldn't have been surprised." He doesn't comment on his equipment, clearly finding it more important to focus on other matters.

Bert takes a jump back and squeaks a little as Gene sort of lunges best he can. The guards apparently have orders, otherwise, the one nearest Gene looks like he would have acted on an urge to smack the man in the head with the butt of his weapon. Instead, Gene's left to thrash there in his seat.

Bert steps aside and over to where the confiscated items of Gene's are kept and starts looking over them. "Gene, if your friends were law abiding citizens, there wouldn't have been any trouble." That's the way she thinks of it anyway. "Look, I kept my head in the sand for so long. Now I see that there are so many people in this country who'd hurt us all.. Even after 9/11.. I can't see something like that happen again, and caused by our own citizens." She clearly doesn't know what to think about all this. "Everything made sense coming from Senator Wynn, now you're involved, even if you were just here to save people you didn't know were terrorists.."

The items appear to be rather odd. A mini-propane torch, a couple of rods that seem to have a button on them, a pair of bracelets which appear to be some sort of medium tazers, using the Spider-Man method of triggering. They appear to be hooked up to a ruined backpack, which seemed to be a large battery of sorts. There seems to be compartments in it, but whatever else was there has been removed or destroyed. The only thing that doesn't appear to be custom made is a small gun, a .22 Kimber which seems more suited for target practice than anything else. Some of the tech appears to be used in EvoSoft, the battery seemingly a larger verison of the one used for the jPhone. The rest of the stuff… Is something else all together and clearly ahead of its time.

"I'd tell you more about this, but until you see the files, you see every person they are going after and why, I can't talk about this. Trust me, Bert, if there is anyone that understands the troubles facing this nation, it's me," Gene states as he looks up to the annoying bright light above him. He knows he can't convince her that he's right, so he tries for the second best thing… Trying to convince her to go find the information herself. "If you are supposed to be the woman responsible for spying on people, you should know why you are doing it. Whose lives are suffering as a result of it. If you already know and you are doing it willfully, then you don't care about law abiding citizens at all."

Bert looks over the items and shakes her head. "Gene, I never.. ever would have imagined this of you," she says in a sad and disappointed way. "You had all of this.. on you?" She gestures to the ensemble of gear in a mild state of incredulity. "Gene, I'm going to have a hard time pleading your innocence with all of these things here. /I'm/ having a hard time believing you didn't have something terrible planned…. and Gene. I /can't/ see the files. They're above my security clearance and I don't have access to them." She just has to believe the Senator when he tells her the whys. SHe sets down the propane torch with a little more force than necessary, "Gene! The government wouldn't just ruin the lives of its citizens without just cause! It's like all those people in Guantanamo! They've got their connections that put them there! The terrorist groups they've been contacting and plotting with! Now? It's more than Jihadists trying to hurt us, it's our own people, who are upset with … who knows what." She sounds frustrated as she tries to put all this together with little facts. A hand raises to pinch at the bridge of her nose, "I'll do what I can with Senator Wynn on getting you a deal."

"The woman I was trying to help… I didn't know why she was not answering messages left for her. I didn't know what I was getting myself into, so I brought stuff to keep myself safe. And you can see the files, Bert. You just won't," the young man replies firmly. "There is a difference."

"No Gene! I /can't/, not won't, I /can't/. Do you know what sort of prison time I would face for breaking into files above my security level!?" Bert.. so trusting.. so naive.. so under Ivory's thumb. She's so straight arrow and law abiding. *sigh* She looks back to the items and says, "It looks like you came prepared to do more than keep yourself safe.. Gene take a moment to think about what this looks like. What these guards see when they look at you? They don't know you, they never worked with you."

The pause lasts for a few moments, Gene appearing to be frozen in time save the rising and falling of his chest and the slight moving of his sore wrists. The young man runs over plots, plants, and ideas, but none of them stick. The answer he got says one thing… Bert isn't the hacking Maverick he was, that's for sure. After taking in a deep sigh, the young inventor gives a large breath out. "You could find out the truth, but you won't. For now, I guess that means we are done talking about this," Gene states with a firm tone, his eyes to the ground by his feet. "We can talk again when we don't have an audience or when you see the truth for what it is… Not what people tell you it is."

"I.. Gene.. Don't be like this." Bert is talking as if Gene's the unreasonable one here. "/I know/ you've done nothing wrong." But appearances can be everything, and deceiving. Shrugging into her jacket, she sighs, "We won't be able to talk again without an audience. Senator Wynn ordered the highest security precautions." Why does she feel like she's talking to that Max person again? "Look, I need to take your things back to DC with me for further examination and identification. They'll be in good hands with me. I'll also keep my word, I /will/ talk to the senator on your behalf." She then starts to gather up the devices into boxes.

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