Starring:
Guest Appearances: The Monk, and Novak
Date: January 15th, 2010
Summary:
An encounter in the park turns into a chance to avoid capture by Alpha Protocol, and to rescue a daughter in need.
"Deux Ex Monkina"
Uptown, NYC - Central Park
Estella is seated on a bench, staring out over the park's greenery in silence. She seems to be lost in her own head — and she seems ridiculously out of place. She is dressed in what was once clearly a pretty jumper but upon closer inspection it bears the marks of overuse: a thread loose at the hem, dirt smudged around the cuffs of her sleeves. Estella's hair hangs too limply, as if her curls haven't been washed. She is neither homeless riffraff but nor is she what her outfit seems to have once presented; wealth was here one time, but it seems gone.
Meanwhile, another woman in Central Park appears to be exactly what she his. Sarissa Belmont is dressed in a dark-red turtleneck sweatshirt, and a long skirt of the same color, over black tights. She is pristine, clean, manicured, and carries herself with grace and poise. She also has about a dozen people watching her from concealment, though not obviously. They look like normal New Yorkers and park-patrons. Sarissa is either unaware of them, or pretending she is not.
The raven-haired woman is approaching the bench that Estella is seated on, but is looking straight ahead. Making eye contact with people can be dangerous in this city. Not that she is worried, but best to be careful.
Estella shifts suddenly — and the movement surely draws attention to the perplexing looking girl. She looks up at Sarissa as the older, well-maintained woman begins to move past her. For a second, Estella watches her; a second too long, it seems, because she suddenly looks back down at her feet. Hiding her worn shoes, she leans forward on the bench and pretends she was not staring at the Belmont. Just as Sarissa begins to pass her, Estella rises as if to try and walk off.
Sarissa catches the movement out of the corner of her eye, and despite her resolve not to look in that direction, caution urges her to at least glance and see if a crazy is coming at her. So she does, just flicking her eyes towards Estella, assessing the possibility of a threat, and when she determines she is just being stared at by a dissheveled-looking woman, returns her gaze forwards. She can feel Estella's interest — however vague it may be — however, and so when Estella stands up Sarissa slows to a stop and half-turns to look in her direction.
It's against her better judgement, and against her nature, to interact with random poor people. But she sighs in annoyance as she forces herself to sort-of-not-quite-smile as she asks, "Out jogging?" There is actually a reason why she is addressing the other woman. She wanted to look behind her and see how many watchers she has today. This was a convenient excuse.
Estella looks down at herself — she is /clearly/ not jogging. With creased brows knit together just above her eyes, Estella shakes her head once. "No," she says very quietly, watching Sarissa like a /hawk/. She lets her gaze fall over the woman's body, taking in her dress and her mannerisms carefully. As slow as her gaze fell, it rises once again and meets Sarissa unnervingly in the eye. Estella has the bearing of an equal, but the decided appearance of a poor girl. She looks young. After a lengthy, thought-laden pause she asks, "Would you please direct me? How do you get out of the park? I'm turned around." She speaks well too — no slang, no improper grammar.
Sarissa shrugs slightly, more a roll of her shoulders than anything else. She can feel now that there is caution and confidence in the other woman. How odd. Still she trusts her feelings over appearances or common sense, most of the time, and so reciprocates Estella's gaze with the same level of self-assurance, rather than the demeanor of one looking down on another. Answering Estella, it becomes clear that is an Italian accent to her words. "If you follow the path north from here, it will lead eventually to one of the entrances. Or you could cut across the lawn, but that might get grass stains on your shoes." She smiles sweetly, to show she is not at all indicating that there is anything wrong with the shoes Estella is wearing. No, really.
"If you follow the path south, it will take longer to exit this place. However, it may be a bit safer, as it will lead towards the more populated parts of the park as well, rather than beneath the trees… And with the way they are clustered together, up there," she nods back the way she came, "it is easy for an ill-intentioned individual to conceal himself."
Among the various watchers observing Sarissa as she interacts with Estella, there is one who seems to be completely invisible, even to the other watchers. A Chinese man, dressed in the robes of a Buddhist monk, with shaved head, stands off beneath the shade of a tree. Though the weather is cold, he seems not to be concerned about the lack of layers to his clothing. Instead, he begins to walk towards where the two women speak. And he covers about ten feet of distance without actually walking over it. More like he just sort of fades out of existence and reappears a short time later.
The Monk arrives after a few seconds, near Estella and Sarissa. And now he is visible to these two, though anyone else in the vicinity would remain unaware of him. He does not speak English very well, so the Monk instead tries to convey his speech through images projected to the mind. For Estella, the Monk transmits an image of Estella herself walking along the north path, and people who were previously doing nothing to do with each other suddenly moving to group together and follow the woman in the jumper. Then an image of Estella taking the southern path, and managing to evade those same people. It will no doubt be confusing, having these images appear in one's head, as well as the Monk himself, seeming so out of place… Is this a hallucination? A dream?
Estella jerks suddenly, stepping away from Sarissa and looking around wildly. Her eyes widen and she shakes her head once, confused by her surroundings. She turns to the south then to the monk, staring at him for a little while. "I'm asleep," she decides, turning to Sarissa for confirmation. Still uncertain, she narrows one eye slowly and decides that maybe she /isn't/ awake. "Who.. are you." It is apparent that Estella thinks the Monk is some sort of affiliate of Sarissa's, some underling. "How… I /am/ asleep?"
Sarissa frowns as the Monk approaches, not recognizing him, but also able to tell he is heading straight for them. He doesn't look like a local either. When he arrives, Sarissa has put a few feet of extra distance between herself and the Chinese man, but since she received no images from him, Estella's behavior strikes her as odd. She glances cautiously between the woman in the jumper and the man in the robes, not answering the questions for a few seconds.
"I do not believe you are asleep, though you may have been before now. Is that how you became turned around? Sleep-walking?" She then focuses on the Monk, and peers at him. She has never really trusted Asians. She's not racist exactly, but she has heard bad things about that part of the world, and it has tinted her views on the inhabitants there. "…Or do you mean this man has done something to make you think you are asleep?" There is confusion both in voice and radiating from Estella. The Monk, however, she can sense almost nothing from. More than she can from her eldest daughter, but this is… Self-control. Calm. Absolute inner peace. She has never encountered anything like it. Not even Novak was this disciplined when she met him last.
She glances in the direction of the watchers to see if they sent this Monk to make a move finally, or if he is here independently. She senses only confusion and suspicion from them. Focusing more deeply she determines that… They are confused about why Estella and Sarissa appear to be talking to no one at all. Interesting.
The ebony-haired woman looks to the Monk and orders, "Explain yourself."
The Monk breathes in through his nose, and out through his mouth, and despite the chill in the air, there is no steam to his breath when it leaves him. Almost like he's not really there. He finally says calmly, though brokenly, "This one is no skilled with English. No get all words. Bad people following you." He nods to Sarissa. "Looking for trouble." He then looks towards Estella and says, "South road safe. North no safe." He emphasizes this by focusing another image into both women's minds, of all eight watchers, showing their faces clearly, and when they speak on radios, and the fact they are armed with stun guns. "Bad people," he repeats. Then he sends another image to Sarissa alone, of the rich woman's eldest daughter, Elisabetha, standing at an airport. A sign in the background is in German but appears to contain the word 'Berlin'. The image continues to show — in clipped fashion — a plane landing, and Sarissa stepping off the plane, then meeting with Elisabetha. "Find her, Bel-mont," he urges as the images cease.
Estella turns to the south, still uncertain of what in the world has happened just now — she isn't clear on where she is, on who these people are, and now she has some sort of crazy image flying around her head! "The south," she repeats. "Who is in the south… For me?" She seems to accept that the monk knows something, that he may be guiding her toward someone. At the very least, she thinks it's a dream she should play along with! "I've never met you."
Sarissa is just as confused, and just as startled, when images start floating in her mind. However, she is not stupid. She has determined this is another person with one of the 'gifts' that Novak told her about. Someone like herself. What the nature of the gift >is< exactly is unclear, but it seems to involve mental image projection, at the very least. "Elisabetha is in Germany? She is supposed to be here in New York," Sarissa insists with a frown. "How do you know this? Who are you, and why are you trying to help?" She tries again to search out the Monk's feelings, to see if there is any hint of deceit. If she is faced with that implacable calm once again, she will grudgingly accept that this isn't a trick. Otherwise, she will keep on questioning and doubting.
The Monk closes his eyes and almost seems to not have heard the questions. But then he answers with images again. A route is traced for Estella, showing the way out of the park, and how to avoid the people looking for her. An unmarked black van will pull up if she uses the south entrance/exit of the park, and people will get out to try to grab her. Thus, she has to wait until a car crashes into the van, causing an accident and keeping the SWAT-like people in the van from getting out. Then RUN out of the area. Wherever she goes, she will be safe, as long as she follows these directions.
For Sarissa, the Monk shows a different image. Novak standing in a laboratory somewhere, looking forward at Sarissa herself. Novak looks aged and strained — far more than he did when last they met. What happened to him? "I am giving this message to my friend to deliver to you. You must meet Elisabetha in Germany. There are people after the both of you. Only by finding each other will you be safe from being hunted down or harmed. I will contact you again when I have the chance." Then the image ends, as though it were a telepathic video recording.
Estella very unceremoniously turns … and does start to move southward. She follows the monk's directions entirely!
Estella flees the area, leaving Sarissa alone with the Monk. A message from Novak. Interesting. Or perhaps annoying. Sarissa hasn't decided yet. But she knows she doesn't want to be captured or followed or hurt or anything else by undefined 'people'. So she'll trust the Monk for now, since he doesn't seem to be lying to her. "Alright… I'll go to Germany then." She then looks around and asks, "How do I leave?"
The Monk points south. The same way Estella went. Figures. Then he opens his eyes and says, "They come." He then vanishes completely, as though he were never even there. Then Sarissa may see that indeed two people, one a man in a trenchcoat, the other a woman in a business suit, are approaching from the north at a quick pace. No special instructions for how to depart. Just head south.
Sarissa sighs. Everytime Novak shows up, it seems, something mysterious is going on. She turns and leaves the park via the southern exit, relying on the distraction provided by the car crash to go unnoticed into the crowd…