Cultivating

[Sulley]

She was in his grasp. Sulley could practically feel his fingers slipping around this woman's soul. In a few moments she would be his. The thought was arousing in a sickly sweet way. His smile was malicious.

"My price means you lose nothing and gain everything. I ask for your fealty. Out of it, you gain your freedom and my protection." He remembered when he said familiar, if not the same, words to Mara. Her standing behind him with her loyalty bearing it's teeth should have been proof enough to Rosenna that Rebellion members didn't regret their choice to surrender to him. None except one. She was a different story altogether.

Sulley traced the woman's face with his eyes, studying the blood trailing from her nose, her visible veins, and those bloodshot eyes. She was a beautiful ruin. His desire to spill flood heightened. He squelched it by speaking again, slow and deliberately.

"Don't pretend to think you're happy here. You want to get out just as badly as everyone else. Some people like to hide it from themselves. They think they can cope." He spat to the side, disgust written on his face. "I can get you out. Give me your power and your loyalty. I'll give you your freedom." He knew that deep in each person's heart what they cherished most wasn't money or love. It was freedom. It was knowing that they had a choice. That they were in control of things. Taking that away from someone was like taking away their existence. Why would a person not give up everything they had in order to gain that back?

Thing is, they wouldn't. She would say yes. Sulley knew it. His grasp was growing stronger by the second.

[Rosenna]

"My price means you lose nothing and gain everything. I ask for your fealty. Out of it, you gain your freedom and my protection."

Freedom. That was a lie if Rosenna ever heard one. There was no such thing as freedom when you're a mutant. If there was a reason that Rosenna was doing this, it was not for freedom. But she nodded along anyway and watched him as he looked her over.

"Don't pretend to think you're happy here. You want to get out just as badly as everyone else. Some people like to hide it from themselves. They think they can cope." he spat off to the side. He was obviously disgused people like that. Rosenna wanted to tell him that she was doing nothing of the sort, but she knew that it wasn't her time to speak. He continued.
"I can get you out. Give me your power and your loyalty. I'll give you your freedom."

Loyalty. Now that struck a chord. This was the kind of thing that involved everything. She wasn't sure if she was ready to give all that. Because really, she had no reason to leave other than the fact that this place was morally wrong.

"I'll do what you want, but only if I think it's worth it. I'm not doing this to serve you. I will help you as long as you help me. I'm not like you're little attack dog over there. I will not give you my heart, soul, or even my mind. I'd rather waste that on getting out of here."

If he said no, he said no. But if he said yes, it would be her game, not his.

[Mara Ackart]

When it came to it Sulley could play a pretty mean game it turned out. Mara watched and listened to the quiet conversation happening in front of her. His words rung within Mara. They were her truths. Whether by his design or hers she'd come to trust Sulley. Perhaps it was foolish of her to do so but Mara couldn't stop herself from trusting him. The only thing for it would be ensuring that she could extract herself from any trouble that trust garnered her.

There was little that Mara could add to the exchange so she remained silent. She'd taken up an impromptu role as Sulley's guardian in case Rosenna had another temper tantrum. As such it took a monumental amount of restraint not to ruin Sulley's plans by stomping Rosenna's head in when she referred to Mara as an attack dog. She was more than that! The ungrateful wench wasn't deserving of Sulley's attention anyway. The anger that roiled within Mara threatened to consume her, good sense and all.

With a quarter turn, under the pretense of looking out for other people approaching, Mara looked away from the scene. The moment her face was out of view of Sulley and Rosenna it twisted hatefully. A voice that could be identified as reason suggested that she was only mad due to jealousy and Mara concurred that the voice was probably right. Of course having conversations with oneself wasn't generally indicative of having reason at all. Oh well, when in Rome as the saying goes.

[Sulley]

Sulley's smile twisted. It turned rotten. His eyebrows drew darkly over his eyes. His hand spread against the ground to steady him as he swayed, the sudden rush of anger almost consuming. When he let his anger get the better of him, things happened. Things he couldn't explain. Where he woke up in pools of blood. The only sanity he hung onto was the hope this girl gave him and Mara's presence behind him.

Sulley ground his teeth audibly.

"If I wanted your thoughts I would have said so." He seethed, standing so that he towered over the girl. He looked down his nose at her, distantly wondering if he should just take her life. There goes his thoughts again. Sulley quickly removed them. "There isn't negotiating. There isn't equality. There's either submission, or there's death." He wasn't sure if it was a threat or not. He certainly would have no qualms killing the girl. Then again, as long as she didn't get in his way, it wasn't necessary. But how often did Sulley do something regardless of whether it was necessary or not?

Her power would benefit them, there was no doubt. But a being who was convinced they were his equal would do nothing but screw the Rebellion's politics. Just as radicals change the government, a mutant who did not comply with the group's rules would change the other members. He couldn't have that. For them to succeed he needed complete loyalty. If he wouldn't get it, she wouldn't get in. Simply doing what he wanted wasn't loyalty. Fealty ran deeper than that.

"Don't misunderstand me. I don't need you."

[Rosenna]

She saw the change in his face. She knew exactally what he was thinking. He was just as out of control as she was. They were no different. He couldn't control himself. She didn't care.

"If I wanted your thoughts I would have said so." He stood up. Rosenna concentrated her powers to her hands, just in case. She wouldn't kill him, just stun him if he made a move. She rose to her feet and although she was well below his height, she wasn't scared. Not in the least.

"There isn't negotiating. There isn't equality. There's either submission, or there's death."

Rosenna licked her lips and shifted her gaze downward, showing her displeasure. After looking around, she settled her eyes once again on Sulley. She raised her eyebrows, signaling him to continue.

"Don't misunderstand me. I don't need you."

"Of course you don't need me. But I'll tell you one thing. You aren't greater than me. Do you realize that? We're nothing more than disgusting murderers. We can't help it. And don't you dare threaten me with death of all things. Do you think that you scare me? Or have you forgotten our last meeting?"

She glanced up at Mara, who had her back turned. "And another thing, your little groupies, your followers? They may do everything you say, but you'll make favorites and you don't care about them. They are going to leave you and no one of decent help to you is going to come back. You keep running things like this and you'll be on your own. Im sure Little Princess over there doesn't like to be led on."

[Mara Ackart]

From her partially turned position Mara heard Sulley deliver a couple of remarks designed to cut Rosenna down a notch or two. It wouldn't work. Mara knew it wouldn't. The walking extension of death was too proud of herself for that to work. In her own mind Mara was ready for Sulley to kill the woman. Just let her body rot here along with his other kill. It was better than she deserved.

Mara finally composed herself and turned around as Sulley finished talking. Rosenna was spouting nonsense again and Mara's self control was becoming taxed. By Shakespeare's ghost if Sulley didn't shut her up soon Mara would. As Rosenna embarked on her second statement Mara became livid. Rosenna would dare call her loyalty into question when she had none herself?! Being called Little Princess was the icing on the cake.

"You who has no loyalty to anyone but herself has no right to call my loyalty into question! My life belongs to Sulley. Should the rest of the world desert him I'll be by his side. So don't presume to know things about which you have no clue."

Mara's tirade ended with a sneer. Sulley's plan be damned. If Rosenna wished to insult her like that then she'd get a taste of Mara's fangs.

[Sulley]

Her rebellious nature was refreshing but also what was thinning her chances. Sulley remained silent after she'd finished speaking, and when Mara snarled her way into the conversation he sidestepped so that she was less behind him and more so a part of the interaction with the woman.

Sulley marveled at her ability to exactly place the situation into words. They had never been his strong suit.

He hadn't forgotten their last meeting. He distinctly remembered feeling out of control as his hand--or was it his finger?--turned black, cold, and dead. What he remembered even clearer was her screams as her hands were cut. It distantly surprised him that that part of their encounter seemed to have slipped her mind. It proved that Sulley could cut faster than she could kill. It exposed her weakness in comparison to him. Not that he consciously recognized it.

"Then," Sulley said slowly, his tone changed from angry to removed, "what do you want?"

[Rosenna]

"You who has no loyalty to anyone but herself has no right to call my loyalty into question! My life belongs to Sulley. Should the rest of the world desert him I'll be by his side. So don't presume to know things about which you have no clue."

It was shocking what women would do. Rosenna let out a laugh.

"Excuse me but you can't be telling me that you have sworn yourself to this guy? You seem like a strong character, how can you be tied down by him? " she dropped her voice, as if telling a secret. "Oh! I know, maybe you're hoping that he'll notice you? This is disgusting."

She turned her attention to Sulley.

"And to answer your question, I want to get out of this prison, but I'm not to sure that following you is the best way to go about doing it. Because from what I've seen, your whole crew is a bunch of love struck girls."

It was dangerous to talk like that but Rosenna wasn't scared. After the episode with her power, she felt different. Like somehow she had evolved. She knew that now she was faster, stronger. If something happened, she would be ok.

[Mara Ackart]

"My feelings have nothing to do with why I swore myself to him and you will obviously never understand that."

Mara's anger had surprisingly dissolved into disdain and disgust. She was past being angry at Rosenna's continued verbal abuse of the Rebellion. There was no point. Like Sulley her entire stance changed from anger to indifference. There was little point in letting Rosenna goad her into a fight. She could handle herself if there was a fight but there wasn't a point in letting it get that far. Mara's eyes drifted to Sulley in silent communication.

It would be better to simply leave. They were getting nowhere with Rosenna. The woman was simply unwilling to understand the truth of the Rebellion. When they escaped without her she would regret not taking this chance.

[Sulley]

Rosenna spoke, but Sulley tuned her out. His eyes drifted across the ruined land and then to his garden, and though he was not angry that it was now dead, he was a bit regretful. It was probably best it was killed before he became too reliant on it. Sulley was always wary of consistency. Everything had a breaking point.

Just like this girl. Sulley looked on her and could see a difference in her from when he first met her. She was harder than before. Something had shaken her core and changed her. He noticed it in the way she suddenly spoke with confidence and clarity. Her time in Freakopolis had built up her pride; not being able to swallow it was her downfall.

Sulley sniffed--his nose was a bit runny, was he catching a cold?--and caught Mara's eyes. Her desires were apparent. With a curt nod the corner of his lips twitched into the tiniest flash of a smirk, and without another glance Rosenna's way he turned.

Mara was his second. He may be the leader and have full power, but he valued her opinion. Especially when it aligned with his. They wouldn't take inner resistance to their own cause. The Rebellion had to be united. Simple as that.

Sulley walked, wiping the remains of the blood from his hand to his pants as he went.

[Lucian Verdus]

"Statement: A fascinating drama, Progenitor, but I believe it is time we took what we came for" The synthesized human voice of the Inquisitor held a particularly smug tone to it as he and Lucian began their march toward the recently deceased. "It has exactly what we were looking for, Inquisitor. A stable chassis, as well as something... else," Lucian stated. The Inquisitor was silent for a moment, "Query: What exactly are you planning, Progenitor?" the Inquisitor asked, turning briefly to glance at Lucian. Lucian did not return the look, "Later, Inquisitor. All will become clear later." The Inquisitor nodded, "Statement: The genesis experiments were fruitful, but we do not have the resources, Progenitor."

"I know this, Inquisitor. I already told you that you will see. Did I not properly install your capacity for patience?" The two stood over the corpse like specters of death, prepared to carry the woman away. This corpse was unique in that it had not rotted at all. Brain matter had not deteriorated significantly, and the wound was not a debilitating or significant one. Merely blood-loss. This woman could be brought back to life, completely and wholly. Not like the servitors. This was part of Lucian's design, but he had grander plans in mind for this woman. She would be a staple, given time.

Time, it seemed, was the ever-present barrier and helper to the perfection of mankind. Time was what kept in him inside Freakopolis, but time would free him from it. Time deprived him of vital technology, but time would give him more. He needed only wait for time to start working in his favor, which would become an inevitable, and soon. The body was taken by Lucian's claw, held by the waist as so many other corpses had been, and held aloft. Some stray blood leaked from the wound and onto the claw, though Lucian payed it no mind. "Observation: This corpse is rather fresh. Our violent meatbag friend did good work of not damaging it severely."

With a nod from Lucian, the two turned to leave, corpse still in hand. This was the start of a new chapter in their campaign for perfection. A new beginning, in a sense. For a moment, every servitor stopped on their patrol, and looked toward Lucian's general direction. This lasted for at least a minute or two, their lenses following him unerringly. Only after that minute was up did the servitors return to their patrols, continuing on as though it had never happened. They knew just as their master did that something very, very important was going on.

[Rosenna]

Rosenna watched Sulley's back as he walked away.

So much for that." she said with a shrug.

She was just about to walk away herself when she saw the robot come out of nowhere. His little henchmen picked up the body. Rosenna shook her head. She put a hand to her forehead. What was she supposed to do? She had blown her shot with the rebellion so she wasn't getting out. But the truth was, she really didn't mind staying here. She had Gerg and a place to stay. So, she left the farms in search of him.