Sitrep 5 ¦ Video (backdated to late Dec. 25)

[usavatar]

[When the feed comes on, it shows Steve in full dress uniform, looking fatigued. He forgets for a moment what he wanted to say - rather, how he wanted to say it.]

It seems like a lot of us got... unpleasant surprises, this holiday. [Silence. Then,] I'm... I don't know how many of you are familiar with the history of Earth as I know it, but I

Comments

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[metalwield]

[ Someone is cranky and furious about the date and his thoughtful gift from Hypatia and a bunch of other things, and Steve just happens to be a convenient target. Sorry bro. His voice is scathing. ]

What a touching story, Captain. How fortunate we are to have you here to inspire us.

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[usavatar]

[He expected this from some quarter. O'Brien, maybe. Someone who'd gotten something particularly upsetting. Steve wasn't exactly prepared for... well, this.] ...Erik.

[It's a greeting, nothing more. When he goes on he's just as calm and sincere.] Or. Would you prefer Magnus?

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[metalwield]

[ It grates to hear his name in a stranger's mouth, and to be treated diplomatically by someone who had no right to know him. This place and its lack of security, and Pietro is a goddamn carry tale. It goes against all of the anonymity and habits of security he'd spent his life cultivating, and he'd had more than he could stand of strangers knowing his history at first glance. ]

We are not on a first name basis. Magnus, if you must, although I really could not care less what you choose to call me.

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[usavatar]

Understood.

The speech was for me as much as anyone.

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[metalwield]

Reminding us to be thankful for what we have, here? A touching sentiment.

But there is nothing here. This is a prison and we are labrats for the AI's amusement. I wonder how you can find comfort in that.

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[usavatar]

[Deep breath. With quiet defiance:] That isn't what I take comfort in.

[There's no hiding the brief flash of concern that edges Steve's voice at the thought of what it must be like here for someone who survived what Magnus has. Not pity; just pain, worry. Steve knows what Pietro says Erik turns into but here - here, he goes by a different name, and maybe that means something. Maybe it can.] And that doesn't have to be all we are.

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[metalwield]

Enlighten me, then.

Our imprisonment is a fact of reality. We struggle to survive, we form connections that we hope will be beneficial with other captives, but in the end we have no control over what happens to us. Who stays, who leaves, who dies. We're at the mercy of a machine.

[no comment]

[checkthetapes]

['Better than to be at yours', he does not say.]

[no comment]

[metalwield]

[ son what have I told you about stalking ]

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[usavatar]

It's not- I'm not going to enlighten you. I can't. I can't make you hope, I can't change what you've been through, done, or what you see when you look around you. All I can do is give you something different to look at, I guess.

[That's all very quiet.] I'm alive. I'm here with someone I care about. You're right, I've formed connections with others here - and... I have to ask, have we ever been in control? I mean yes, we make our own decisions. We fight, or not. We choose to give up, or not. But I couldn't stop the Second World War from happening, or people I cared about dying then, either. All I could do was fight and believe in something better after the end.

[He catches himself mid-speech and stops. Preaching to Magnus won't do anything.] Those are my feelings.

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[metalwield]

I'm not interested in your feelings about the war, Captain, or the excuses you tell yourself. You're asking all of us to reconcile ourselves to the situation, to take comfort in being alive and in those decisions that are still left to us.

This must be your first time as a prisoner.

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[usavatar]

I'm asking that we don't give up.

['Technically' isn't an answer that will satisfy.]

Yes. It is.

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[metalwield]

I'm sure you'll find it enlightening.

[ SUDDENLY ENCRYPTION, and his conversational tone turns to ice. ]

What is it that your little group of toy soldiers is holding over Quicksilver to make him stay? He doesn't belong with humans.

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[usavatar]

[SILENCE AT THE SUDDEN CHANGE OF TOPIC, then,] This from the man who kidnapped him.

He goes where he wants to. And he belongs with friends.

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[metalwield]

I detained him for a few hours. His mutation makes him difficult to pin down in one place for a conversation.

You're from the 1940s. The other Avengers didn't recognize him. Your lot might as well be strangers, so you'll forgive my skepticism about any of you being his friends.

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[usavatar]

Which argues that he didn't want to talk to you to begin with.

[Voice getting progressively colder] You can be as skeptical as you want. It doesn't change the truth.