2010-01-17: You Didn't Hear This from Me

Starring:

Robin_V4icon.pngGeorge_V4icon.png

Date: January 17, 2010

Summary:

Robin shows what he thinks of Alpha Protocol's attempt to keep him quiet.


"You Didn't Hear This from Me"

Special Projects office, New York

It's late January. Yesterday, for whatever reason, Robin didn't show up to work, nor was he home if anybody called. Today, Robin's in the office early, waiting for George right now back in the private bug-proofed area of the office, sitting and typing at a laptop. He's got a small bottle with a small amount of liquid in on the table by him.

With his girlfriend unexpectedly fallen out of touch during those same couple of days, the freshman congressman is a bit more distracted than usual, and so he has yet to call Robin on the absence. While he waits for his phone calls to be returned, he's still got about a dozen more irons in the fire - including the black-box project that Robin and his team are assigned to, or rather against.

George doesn't know that much about computers himself, but he does know that the experts often need to stay focused on one thing for a while. Rather than pipe up immediately, he just closes the door behind him, setting his coffee down as he waits for a good stopping point to come along.

Robin turns quickly as he hears the door closing, and looks a bit relieved when he sees it's George. "Congressman, I… um…" Here he hesitates, glancing to make sure the room's sealed, quickly probing with his power as well just to be positive. Then he says, "The AP hit my building yesterday, grabbed someone. They took me too, just didn't know what they had."

Well, the boy gets points for hitting the ground running, that's for sure. The coffee was definitely a good idea. "Thank God for small favors," replies George, "last thing we need is for one of ours to wind up in custody… that's part of why we're keeping some distance, as a backup in case Senator Petrelli's team gets compromised. Do you know who they did target?"

Robin nods quickly and says, "Someone named Bishop, I don't know her first name. Hadn't ever actually met her." Then he nods again and says, "But they're watching me, now. Had me in a cell for hours, then made me sign some form to say I wouldn't tell anybody," and he obviously doesn't think much of such a form, "and charged me with vandalism. They promised to clear me, but I'm stuck with an AP lawyer in court."

Sip. "Well, it's a good thing you didn't tell anybody, then." George obviously thinks just as much of the bullying tactic. "Play along like you've been successfully intimidated into silence… but is the building address the same one we've got on file? If someone files a missing-person report, then I might have an excuse to stick my beak in."

Robin grins and nods, "Yeah, it is." He then says, "Ok, you got it. That's what I've been doing… it's been awful lying to my parents, they think I really did what they're saying." Then he picks up the bottle with the tiny bit of liquid inside, "But the whole thing reminded me of something. Back when I lived in California, I was in the park once and there was a guy there playing amazing basketball. Then someone shot him with a dart, and suddenly he could barely throw the ball. I thought someone just messed with him to mess up his game, I told him but I kept the dart. Thought it'd be cool for chemistry class to figure out what it was. But during the takedown, I was in the hall and they shot me with something that was part tranq, but it cut off my power too. Thought maybe it was the same thing, especially since the ones that shot the basketball player were using military frequencies, so I brought it in." He holds up the bottle.

George arches a brow. "That shouldn't surprise me. They'd obviously want to level the playing field… if they've come up with a blocker drug, that would be a lot less ham-fisted than bullets or even tasers. Were you able to figure anything out about this one? If not… hmm, I'll have to see if I can scrounge up a pro. I do know a doctor who might know someone, but we've been out of touch for a while now."

Robin shakes his head and says, "I was saving it for my final project, and once I had an idea what it was, no way was I touching it. I'm not *that* good at chemistry, and there's only a bit there. I don't want to mess up the sample trying to figure it out."

"Point there, someone will have to be pretty selective what tests they do run on it." George walks over and rummages through his desk drawer, eventually producing a black lacquered puzzle box. "Here, we can keep it in here until we figure out what to do with it. If nothing else, maybe their cover will end up blown and we can hand it off to the media."

Robin stands up, carrying the bottle over to George's desk and giving it to him to put in the puzzle box once it's out. Then he steps back to his laptop and says, "That'd be nice, having this go wide open."

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