2007-04-29: Revisiting Rianna

Starring:

Jane_icon.gif Rianna_icon.gif

Summary: Jane visits Rianna at her office some time after the telepathy she performed and hears of forgotten things.

Date It Happened: April 29, 2007

Revisiting Rianna

Foundation Offices, Times Square, Manhattan, NYC

A day or two has passed since the Foundation head, at Nathan's request, came to his brother's apartment and performed a telepathic examination to verify she and Pete were being truthful with Elle Bishop, and the twenty-something guitarist/singer/lawyer is curious. Nathan had, after all, mentioned her again as a resource when they talked afterward, and he mentioned a Foundation too. Not to mention the knowledge she clearly had about the Company. So a meeting on better terms? It's so in the cards to try arranging. Doctor Michelle Jane Forrest, Yale '06, begins by researching her name and the word Foundation, looking to find an office location and contact number she can call.

After finding the contact information, she debates making a call and trying to set up an appointment, but later decides to just go there and attempt to be seen based on the councilwoman remembering her. With that in mind, she arrives at the Foundation offices in a charcoal gray Brooks Brothers business suit with knee length skirt and two inch matching professional heels, also carrying a briefcase. It's not a way she commonly clothes herself, but she can when needed look like an attorney.

The receptionist at the Foundation is busy fielding incoming calls when Jane arrives, but when a brief lull presents itself, she looks up at Jane. "Can I help you?"

"Yes," she replies calmly. "I'd like to meet with Mrs. Rockford-Johanssen, if she's available." Wearing small silver studs in her ears and with hair pinned up off her collar in addition to the lawyer garb, Jane waits for a reply, hoping to be admitted. While doing so, her mind is at work to compose what she might say. What does one do when meeting someone who's already journeyed through the pathways of one's mind? Is there, in fact, anything about her the woman wouldn't already have discovered by doing that?

"One moment, please.", says the receptionist, touching a finger to her Bluetooth headset. "Johannsen Foundation, how may I direct your call? Councilwoman Johannsen is on the other line. Would you like her voicemail? One moment, please.", she says, pressing a button on the switchboard. "Do you have an appointment, Miss?", the receptionist asks.

"I don't," Jane replies. "I had hoped she might recognize my name and agree to speak with me. I'm Doctor M. Jane Forrest. Would you be so kind as to ask her, and pass along I'm an acquaintance of Nathan Petrelli, please?"

"Please have a seat.", the receptionist responds, gesturing towards a group of leather couches in the lobby. The girl keeps answering phone call after phone call, not appearing to have called upstairs when suddenly she interrupts one of her phone calls to stand up. "Dr. Forrest? Councilwoman Johannsen will see you. Fifth floor, center office.", the receptionist says, sitting back down and going back to the deluge of incoming calls.

When asked to sit, she does so, keeping her eyes focused on the wall and her hands atop the briefcase settled into her lap, and when directed to the fifth floor, Jane rises. "Thank you," she says simply. before walking over to and into the elevator. Button is pressed, door closes, and she's on the way.
When she steps out on the fifth floor, her eyes immediately seek out the center office, and look for any sort of receptionist there as well to clear before going in. If unimpeded, she'll stride directly to the door and knock upon it to announce her presence.

Once the elevator arrives on the fifth floor, Jane will exit immediately facing the outer office of the Councilwoman. Her secretary is busying herself with some copying in the same room, one of those massive printers dedicated for Rianna's own work that does all the copying, printing, faxing, etc.

Alice, Rianna's secretary, gestures towards the oak doors that enter into Rianna's inner office. "Please, Dr. Forrest. The Councilwoman told me to show you in immediately. I think she may be on the phone, however.", Alice says, going over to open one of the double doors. "Dr. Forrest, Mrs. Johannsen.", she announces.

Rianna nods and beckons Jane to enter with her hand, a phone headset on and apparently in the middle of a conversation. "I don't care what you have to do. He'll be out before the next general election, the time to act is now. Get it done, don't give me excuses.", she says, pressing a button on the phone and setting the headset down. "Dr. Forrest. A pleasant surprise to see you again. I was actually just thinking about you yesterday. Please have a seat."

"Thank you for seeing me," Jane begins, smoothing her skirt with one hand and settling into the seat before placing her briefcase on the floor. Hands are then calmly placed in her lap. "You were thinking about me?" Inside her head, there's something of a whirlwind. 'Thinking about me? Whatever for? How much did she learn, from that anyway? How does telepathy work? Why did Elle react defensively by having lightning balls in her hands and going for a clear line of fire?' Yes, this one is curious, a fact the telepath may already have garnered from the performed examination.

"As a matter of fact, I was.", Rianna says, taking off her glasses and setting them down on the desk, a desk incredibly cluttered with all sorts of files. "I was doing a little bit of thinking after Nathan called me for that impromptu little event the other day, and when you gave me your name, it stuck in my mind and I couldn't remember where I'd heard it before.", Rianna says, shifting in the chair and then leaning back. "Then I came into the office and I looked through our files, and sure enough, there you were. Doctor Michelle Jane Forrest. One of my former employees came across you one day after you shattered a streetlamp with your voice.", she says matter-of-factly. "I found it rather interesting that your file had my name on it as the last update, yet I don't remember ever having met you."
This causes her brows to rise, and furrow. "That is… very interesting," Jane replies. "I don't recall meeting you before the event myself." A pause is taken, as her features darken slightly. Issues of memory holes have an effect upon her, it's easily seen, as well as the knowledge a file was kept. "When does the file date from? If it mentions the street lamp, which was in Times Square, it's from February, at the latest. I remember that event very well."

Rianna nods. "That would be it. Since thinking about that time, there's a lot of things that I can't remember from around the time that my Foundation was burned down. The kind of things that you don't think of unless you're trying to actively remember it, you know. Unfortunately, my assistant that started the file on you was caught in the building fire. I suspect, Dr. Forrest, that you may have received the same visit from the Company that I did."

The eyes darken further as she mulls this over, and is silent for several seemingly long seconds. "I've had memoris taken," Jane eventually states, adding "It was after, I'm told, I took part in a failed raid on a Company facility to break someone out of their custody. What I remember is waking up the next morning somewhere south of AC with pills on and around me, and several messages from an alleged sponsor called Jim who claimed I left rehab and he was worried about me. I made it home, and the next three days, well, I became well acquainted with something John Lennon wrote and sang about." Tension is starting to show, bubbling under the surface, but not yet at a level where she's feeling the urge to scream. Yet.

Rianna nods. "That sounds like a standard Company experience, Doctor Forrest. Part of the reason why I'm trying to bring the Foundation into prominence. The Company needs to be stopped.", she says. "But nonetheless. What can I do for you today?"

"I can't speak on what appears to be an earlier interference with my memories," she replies quietly, "as to the reasoning behind it, or that it even happened, although the evidence says it did from what you present to me. The occasion I've been told of, however, I find it harder to fault them on, having tangled with them and entered one of their facilities. It seems a consequence of a risk I knowingly took." Her thoughts, while speaking, are of the Petrellis. Pete being free, Nathan coming to find her when she was suffering cold turkey withdrawal for three days. How they spoke with her and the evidence eventually overcame her belief she'd become a drug addict, how it all made sense despite being just words, given she'd done seven years of college, law school too, without so much as taking speed. "I have curiosities," Jane answers, "about how much you now know about me, how deeply you went in the examination. There are people who put trust in me, and…"

"Well, Doctor Forrest, what I know about you consists of the contents of the file that was taken on you. Which is pretty much the same as every other file that we have on known Evolved individuals.", she says. "As for what I did, I didn't look any farther than I needed to look in order to find out how you felt about Miss Bishop. I personally did not feel comfortable being around the girl any longer than I needed to. She is dangerous.", Rianna states calmly.

"She can be," Jane states quietly, "her life has been… unusual, but I believe she'll overcome that. I've staked my life on it, in fact, if I'm wrong it's no leap to see how things will end. Thank you, ma'am, for not going deeper than needed. I take your word on that at face value. How… does telepathy work, if I might ask. My own ability works on the power of voice, to reach pitches beyond the range of human ears and frequencies that can cause damage to brittle objects. I've also been able to use it for dark navigation like a bat's sonar, to repel animals," she pauses there, having the image of causing a pigeon to change course and not bomb someone in her street guitar audience come to mind, "and to find some rudimentary start at a solution for my dog whistle problem. I hear, as well as make, ultrasound. I'm not certain what the upper limit of my voice may turn out to be. But as far as I know, I'm the ultimate soprano." Confidence, and quiet pride there.

"Telepathy…", Rianna starts, smiling as she thinks about it. "It's hard to explain, really. At first, it was like another ear, allowing me to hear people's thoughts, but then as I was trained, it became more of a touch. I am able to connect myself to other people. Feel what they feel, see what they see, all of that. It's like asking someone to explain how their eyes work. Sure, there's an explanation, but it's complicated, and something that people with eyes take for granted.", Rianna says. "And with your power, it is wonderful that you train it. We cannot be ashamed of being different anymore than the normal human should be ashamed of having progressed past the Neanderthal stage. You're on the threshold of a whole new world. It's a very exciting time, but unfortunately, we have to open the door before we can step through into the New Age. People, like our friends at the Company, are afraid of the future."

"I don't know so much about them," Jane states, "a good bit of what I do know isn't pleasant. Their leaders have no reservation against doing whatever they feel their mission requires, for what they believe is the common good. Needless to say, I don't trust them, but I do believe they have a role to play. Some things we can't make public, we'd either never be believed or if we proved it could spark witch hunts. There has to be some form of governance, not everyone who develops as we have is benign. One in particular presents us with a collective kill or be killed threat. But…" she pauses, "just as the Founders of this nation saw, government has to be overseen by the people at large, its power kept in check. This Company has to work for us, and fear us, instead of us working for and fearing them."

"An interesting point of view. Perhaps you might be willing to work with me towards my plans for the future.", Rianna says after a moment of consideration. "In the meantime, I'm afraid that I must cut this short. I have a few meetings that I must attend before the day is through. The life of a politician is never quiet.", Rianna says with a smile. "But allow me to give you my personal card…", she says, taking one from the business card holder on her desk and scribbling a phone number on the back side. "That is my cellphone. In case you ever need anything. The Foundation is here for you and those who you know. Don't hesitate to spread the word to those who are trustworthy. But, any friend of Nathan Petrelli is welcome in our doors. The future is going to be bright for him.", Rianna says, handing it over with a smile.

Fingers take the card and pocket it, then pull her phone off a hip and open it. The display is manipulated to show her own number, 283-2260. "This one's mine," Jane offers. "We'll have some things to talk about, I believe. Thank you for your time." After waiting for the number to be taken down, she extends the right hand for a simple shake and release. Soft hand, callused fingers in the places one might expect to find them on the hand of someone who spends a lot of time playing guitar.

The number on the card reads 283-2980. "Of course, Doctor Forrest.", Rianna says cordially, standing up to shake Jane's hand and accompany her to the door. "If anything important comes up, please don't hesitate to call me."

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