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Post by RICARDO ALVAREZ on May 24, 2021 1:25:04 GMT
rico hated the united states government.
he'd been in custody for years and his patience grew thinner with each order. he was pretty sure not one person who'd been directing him had any skills or intelligence of their own because for people who were anti-mutant, they seemed pretty willing to use one as a toy when it was convenient for them.
today rico's orders involved snooping around a school and seeing what he could pick up. he was dropped off and walked around on his own looking for places where he might be able to find unattended technology.
evidently college students were likely to be spies.
he groaned and walked into an open lab, letting out a breath of irritation when he saw that there were students working. he looked around the room for a radio and walked to the back, taking a seat and pulling out a notebook. he turned the radio on and placed his hand over it, listening for anything that could incriminate someone.
DUKE OAKLEY
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Post by DUKE OAKLEY on May 24, 2021 4:23:06 GMT
Duke had reserved this particular lab station weeks in advance. You had to do that, because apparently even the best Ivy league in the country couldn’t afford enough lab tables for all their students to work on research projects at the same time. It seemed like something that should have been more of a them problem than a him problem, as far as Duke was concerned, but since they were paying for his entire experiment he kept his complaints to himself… mostly.
He had been working for a few hours when Rico walked into the room. There were a few other groups in the lab and people often came in to pick things up or take pictures of their work, so he didn’t think too much of it until he heard the chair move next to the back table. ”Don’t touch the radio.” he called. As the first person on the sign in sheet for the day, Duke had control of the radio. It was an unwritten, but very important, rule. It had taken him long enough to find the one station in this city that played decent music and he wasn’t going to start his whole solution over again because some idiot fucked with a knob and he had to go fix it.
In fact, he didn’t even look up from his table until he had finished recording measurements, and then his eyes swiftly circled the room. Boring nerd. Boring nerd. And weird radio boy. He watched what he was doing with his hand for a second before approaching from behind. ”Are you a student here?” he asked, because the guy wasn’t exactly dressed for lab work. Judging by what he was wearing, Duke was almost positive he didn’t go to school at all, but he was being marginally polite.
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Post by RICARDO ALVAREZ on May 24, 2021 19:43:50 GMT
don't touch the radio. rico didn't even hear the comment since he had, in fact, touched the radio and was currently listening to the local channels. he only looked up once he was approached, a little irritated to be interrupted. are you a student here? "¿qué?" he asked in spanish, hoping the guy would believe he didn't speak english and leave him alone.
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Post by DUKE OAKLEY on May 24, 2021 20:05:34 GMT
Duke leaned over Rico to turn the radio off. He rolled his eyes and seamlessly switched to Spanish when it appeared the guy didn’t understand him. ”Qué estás haciendo aquí?” (What are you doing here?) he asked him slowly.
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Post by RICARDO ALVAREZ on May 24, 2021 20:14:45 GMT
¿qué estás haciendo aquí? rico hadn't expected that. he watched incredulously as duke turned the radio off, switching back to english. "using the radio," he said, gesturing to where duke had walked over from. "you weren't working on it, and you can't even hear it," he said, turning it back on. there's no way it could have possibly been bothering him.
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Post by DUKE OAKLEY on May 24, 2021 20:27:45 GMT
”You weren’t working on it, and you can’t even hear it.” Those were both accurate statements. ”Which makes me wonder what you’re doing with it.” Duke pointed out. ”So, what are you doing? Besides trespassing on private property?” He was interested. Because normal people didn’t walk into someone's university lab so that they could stick their hand in front of a radio.
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Post by RICARDO ALVAREZ on May 24, 2021 21:22:23 GMT
so, what are you doing? besides trespassing on private property? "you assume i'm here without permission," rico said. "look-- i can't talk about it and if i don't get this done i'm going to be in a lot of trouble."
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Post by DUKE OAKLEY on May 26, 2021 21:39:26 GMT
”You assume I’m here without permission.” ”Oh I know you’re here without permission.” Duke pointed out. He tilted his head a little when the guy elaborated that he would get into trouble if he didn’t do what he was told. As a self proclaimed expert at reading people.. he wasn’t getting any indication that Rico wasn’t telling the truth. ”Alright, I’ll bite. But if you expect me to keep quiet about it, I’m gonna need a lot more information... I’m kinda hungry. What do you say we grab some dinner after this?”
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Post by RICARDO ALVAREZ on May 26, 2021 23:34:40 GMT
i'm gonna need a lot more information. "then we can't talk here," rico pointed out. what do you say we grab some dinner after this? "they won't let me leave," he said, shaking his head. he looked around at the couple other students in the room before groaning and getting up, shoving past duke and leaving the room to find a spot more private. "i'm only telling you this because i don't even care if their plan works out for them or not," he pointed out. "i'm here for the government and if i tell you why you won't believe me."
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Post by DUKE OAKLEY on May 27, 2021 21:19:32 GMT
”They won’t let me leave.” ”How’re they gonna know?” Duke countered. ”You wearing a tracker?” He rolled his eyes when the guy brushed past him. ”You know, if you want to pretend you belong here you should try to follow basic lab procedure.” he pointed out. Because there was equipment and sign logs and all kinds of things that were supposed to be left or taken before leaving the room. Of course, he also neglected to do those things, following after Rico. ”I’m here for the government and if I tell you why you won’t believe me.” ”That won’t change much.” He already didn’t believe most of what came out of the guy’s mouth. ”What government? You a Commie?”
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Post by RICARDO ALVAREZ on May 27, 2021 22:23:59 GMT
you wearing a tracker? "no, but they're expecting me back in a half hour." so... they'd know when he didn't show up. if you want to pretend you belong here you should try to follow basic lab procedure. "i don't want to pretend i belong here-- most of the time people aren't nosy enough to bother me about it." he gave him a look at his accusation. you a commie? "no, your government," he clarified. "they'd found a lot of communist spies on university campuses," he explained.
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Post by DUKE OAKLEY on May 29, 2021 19:38:23 GMT
”Seems like they could deal with a little disappointment.” Duke pointed out when Rico mentioned having to get back on time. ”Most of the time people aren’t nosy enough to bother me about it.” He grinned widely at that. ”I told you not to touch the radio.” If the guy had listened, he probably wouldn’t have paid him much mind.
”They’d found a lot of communist spies on university campuses.” He rolled his eyes dramatically at that. The US government wouldn’t know a spy they worked in the White House. ”Most of them are just self-righteous hippies. Though, there is one guy in the physics department I have questions about.”
Of course, he had more questions about Rico. ”Anyway, lets pretend I’m buying your story. Why you? You’re not NSA or CIA. You don’t fit in well, you’re not particularly intimidating, and thirty minutes is hardly enough time to make a judgement call on whether or not my lab is harboring any Soviets.”
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Post by RICARDO ALVAREZ on May 30, 2021 1:56:59 GMT
i told you not to touch the radio. "you weren't using it," rico said incredulously. though there is one guy in the physics department i have questions about. "i'm serious," he said. some people were actually spies. why you? you're not nsa or cia. "again, you don't know that," he muttered. duke was making a lot of assumptions about him. you don't fit in well, you're not particularly intimidating. "english isn't my first language but i think you're insulting me," he pointed out, crossing his arms. "that's the part you won't believe," he said. "let's just leave it at... i can eavesdrop by placing my hand on a radio." he figured if the guy knew about mutants and had some nasty vendetta against them, he'd have already assumed rico was one. "and i can prove it to you if you have any ideas but i don't really have time for that. i've been spying for them for months and they haven't let me leave so i doubt they'll be understanding about me getting back late."
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Post by DUKE OAKLEY on May 30, 2021 7:15:27 GMT
”English isn’t my first language by I think you’re insulting me.” ”Yeah, I am.” Duke confirmed. ”Lets just leave it at.. I can eavesdrop by placing my hand on a radio.” ”We are absolutely not going to leave it at that. That’s the most interesting thing you’ve said so far. Of course, you could be high, or psychotic.” He was mostly talking to himself at that point.
The guy had done something he didn’t understand, he had known that the second he saw him. There wasn’t a lot Duke didn’t understand so it bothered him. And if he didn’t get to the bottom of it, he was going to fixate on it until he did. ”.. I doubt they’ll be understanding about me getting back late.” ”Let me go with you, then.” he said right away. ”I get my answers, and you stay out of trouble. Besides, I always wanted to meet a real secret agent”
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Post by RICARDO ALVAREZ on Jun 1, 2021 0:06:20 GMT
of course you could be high, or psychotic. "i could be," rico confirmed with a shrug. let me go with you, then. he hadn't been expecting that. "what? you... want to?" i get my answers, and you stay out of trouble. he furrowed his eyebrows. "fine, but don't expect them to be welcoming." rico led him back to people waiting outside and rico was given looks when he approached. he raised his hands defensively. "he saw me and had questions.
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