Nates Incarciration.

[Eric]

<continued from At the Mall.>

Eric was in a bad mood. Of course he was. He'd had to escort the little bastard he'd caught in the Mall, and he would've been willing to leave the little lady-boy to run around with his explosives if he hadn't decided to get all personal on his ass. Which he had, so now he had just finished about three hours of paper work while Nate had been stripped, searched, photgraphed, finger printed, and yes, cavity searched. Thankfully Eric hadn't needed to bother with all that and left those blokes who took a certain amount of enjoyment from looking after the welfare and the "rights" of those that were no doubt going to be serving a fair amount of time for being caught doing the wrong thing at the wrong time.

It was dwindling away to the evening when Eric finally moised on down to the Cells. Nate, who no doubt would be dressed in some sort of blue overalls and now in a room about 10ft by 20ft, with a thick plexiglass front with cement floor, cement walls, and a dozen billions sensors in it so Nate couldn't even go to the toliet in the corner without someone knowing about it. There was a thin narrow bed too, and a heatpad on the floor to give warmth. A sink, a shelf, and that was little Nate's world until Eric decided whether or not to let the little faggot out.

Eric flicked on the communitcator switch outside the cell, raising an eyebrow and lighting up a ciagrette, snapping his Zippo shut.

"Right. Nothing has been entered electronically about you. So even if your little friends have an uplink, which I don't doubt you do, they won't know your here until tomorrow morning. You've got a choice. You can either talk to me now, or sleep on it. But the sooner you talk to me, the sooner I'll enter everything electronically, and then the likelyhood of Maxwell trundling along in here to try and bust you free increase."

With an exhale he ashed on the floor. "So. Will I open this door and you an me can go and have a cosy coffee in the intergration room, or you just gonna stay there and let them throw you some scran?"

[Nathan VanAlystir]

Nate found that cavity searches weren't all they were cracked up to be. And here he thought it'd be a walk in the park, his ass -still- hurt. And what was with this uniform? He was half tempted just to walk around nude, if it weren't for the paranoid desire to keep the rest of those thin white scars that trailed from the left side of his face down over most of the left side of his body hidden. Though he was sure at least a good dozen or more knew of them now. Not that it mattered, he thought a few people he'd slept with had managed to see them even though it was dark, it wasn't a huge secret, he just didn't like them. His wig was gone, his eye patch, his jewelry, his press-on nails, and he had to wash his makeup off after it ended up horribly smeared during the whole ordeal. Ruffians.

He was sitting in the back corner of that cell, staring at the floor and contemplating possible escape plans. Though he really couldn't think of a single one, with that room being as bugged as it was. So mainly he was drawing imaginary pictures upon the floor with a fingertip, mumbling to himself. He still expected to rot here. Not that he didn't have every bit of faith in Maxie, but he thought personally it would be a stupid idea to come after him, and that Maxie would see this. Upon hearing Eric's voice, he turned that one green eye up to him without changing the position of his bowed head. Staring through the plexiglass up at him. It was such a shame good looks like that had to be wasted on such a personality, he thought.

Coffee did sound good, though.. Screaming and fighting a strip search has a tendency to parch a body. Well, he could pretend to be dumb still, or.. Well, what's the point. "I won't tell you anything about Maxie, if that's what you want from me. He won't come after me anyway, I don't know what you think makes me so special. As I've heard myself deemed so often around here, why would any 'faggot drag queen' be given a position of real power in Stoneage?" Nate got to his feet slowly, dusting himself off. Though it was really useless, the clothes were still ugly no matter how he batted at them. "How are you sure I wasn't just a walking suicide bomb? A nameless faceless person who isn't really of any consequence dead?" He pulled his fingers through his hair, attempting to fix it. It was still tangled from the bobby pins having been ripped out. " But if you wanna know anything else, I'll talk for that coffee."

[Eric]

Truth be told, Eric wasn't interested in Max. He knew enough about Max and what he was planning. But there was one thing he had to say, in response to Nate's mention of a "faggot drag queen" being given a position of power in stoneage.

"Max doesn't give a damn about sexuality or apperances. You should know that." Shifting a little, he flicked open the door release panel and inserted the 13 diget code. The plexi glass front of the cell slid open and Eric gestured for Nate to step forwards.

"I recommend you don't try anything stupid. We're 5 floors down from the exit so you'll have a difficult time getting anywhere in that outfit." He stood, waiting patiently and pondering the questions. After all, why would Max give anyone any power in his own project? Oh, it was obvious that explosives were good, and what was even more obvious about the drone being used to blow something up was evident.

Nate wasn't screaming "Down the system", and hadn't mentioned anything like it since he'd been brought in. Max's little stoneage kids seemed to have an unreal and passionate belief in what they did, almost like they were brainwashed or something. Fishing in his pocket Eric pulled out his slightly rumpled packet of cigarettes, extending his arm and offering them to Nate in a quiet motion.

Yes, there was rumors of torture, but the truth was Eric only punched people when they annoyed him and tried to play a game of silly buggers. If someone talked, even in round about ways, he treated them as civially as the situation could allow and with all the courtesy of a japanese butler.

"I can get a comb for you too, if you'd like. Must be hell without your beauty products."

No sarcasm, just gentle observance and the simple, plain fact, that Eric was a person watcher.

[Nathan VanAlystir]

Max doesn't give a damn.. Nate knew. Even though he and Maxie went back and forth, Maxie always gave him a good amount of respect and confidence. It broke his heart a little to think of how he'd let him down. As he stepped forward and out of the cell, he stopped next to Eric, looking up at him curiously with that one good eye. "I won't go anywhere.. I'm not an idiot." A vague smile curled the right corner of his mouth. His tone softened some. "He still won't come after me.. Even I know it's insane to try."

He took one of those offered cigarettes with a grateful bow of his head, placing it between his lips and turning his gaze around the area. Just getting an idea of the layout, if he was going to be here awhile he might as well remember what it looks like outside of the cell. He finally turned his gaze back to Eric with a small smile to the comb remark. "Careful, I might end up liking you. I'm trying not to, being my captor and all. It puts a damper on the relationship. Could I have a light?"

Nate shifted his weight from left to right foot. Eric and Max truly were like two peas in a pod. Not exactly alike, they were still their own separate persons, but they did have similarities. "You and Maxie must go way back.. The way you two are about each other. He doesn't talk about it, though. I always wanted to know if you two were maybe friends back in the day, or something." He had an almost hesitant tone, as if he was afraid of getting punched again for talking about something personal. But he really did assume he'd be here awhile, he wouldn't be able to ask Maxie about it himself. He wanted to know Maxie's real reasons for doing all of this. His full reasons, not just what he told the kids to get them in riot mode.

Maybe this guy held the key, one of the many things about Maxie that Maxie never told people about. He didn't have anything left to lose anyway, since he couldn't work and would probably never see Maxie again. It's like trying to find out the secrets to the universe. It very well might be, when Maxie accomplishes his goal. The ultimate secret of why their little world will be what it will become. Maybe he was just bored. And this guy seemed interesting, too. He coudln't even place his finger on it, it was just like this guy and Maxie were both standing at the ends of a balanced scale and he didn't know what that bloody scale was.

[Eric]

He flicked open his zippo, snapping it alight and flaring Nate's cigarette into life, and then his own. With a gesture he lead into the interogation room, which was as one would expect, riddled with microphones and cameras, a desk and two chairs, and a coffee machine and a water cooler. And an ash tray. Eric was good at this sort of thing, some people said. Normally he just swung by the seat of his pants and treated them how he would like to be treated.

Eric flipped on the coffee brewer and it began to brew, making the various noises and hums to itself. Then the DPS officer flumped down into a chair, placed his feet on the table and exhaled, waving at the opposite seat for Nate to sit.

"You sure as hell ask a lot of question's, don't you? And yea, I know Max. We go way back, but that's beside the point." Eric only confirmed suspicions, he rarely gave it all away. Tongue dashed over his lips to flavour the taste of nicotine, eyes half lidding as he appriased Nate up and down.

"So, what's your real name? And what exactly did you do for Max? I know he's good with explosives himself, but he wasn't talented enough to fix something onto a tiaria like you were wearing. Is that what you did? Made funky explosives for him?"

Straight to the point. He'd done the arsing around, and now he just wanted to get this damn interview with over.

[Nathan VanAlystir]

While ashing into the tray, Nate took a good look around the place. Taking note of every camera and listening device he could find. Probably wasn't all of them, and he had no reason to, but he was trying to think of something other than this situation. Taking a long drag from his cigarette, he ashed it over the provided tray with an exhale. Of course Eric wouldn't tell him everything he wanted to know, that would just be too convenient. There could be no simple gains in life.

"My real name is Nathan VanAlystir. And yeah, I make--made things that go boom for the kids to play with. Things that don't look so suspicious when they walk into buildings with them." Without looking at anything but the corner of the room for the past ten seconds or so, he grabbed the back of the empty chair to turn it around and straddle it. Not attempting anything suggestive of course, he was dressed too ugly for something like that. Just comfort, and he folded his arms across the back of the chair, drawing the cigarette up for another drag, and another exhale as he ashed over the tray. He finally turned that good eye back to Eric.

"You know, that hair color looks really good on you. I could never pull off red. I guess it's my skin tone. Is it natural, or do you dye?" Nate's tone stayed conversational. He wasn't being cocky really, he learned his lesson already that pissing this guy off resulted in damage to the pretty face. Though he wasn't trying to kiss up, either. Inwardly he was worried. He never thought he'd actually be captured. Not for one moment. He glanced downward thoughtfully for a second before turning his gaze back to Eric. "If I'm going to be here for a long while, I need someone to either take my Lucy and feed her, or you've gotta do me the pleasure of killing me. I have a contingency plan for my demise, but I never really thought I'd be imprisoned so the guy she's staying with right now won't feed her and she'll starve to death."

He didn't lie to Maxie when he told him about that little firecracker being from his pops, but he implanted a little trigger in the wick that upon lighting would give his iguana a harmless shock from her collar, the signal to escape to lizardy freedom. He didn't tell anyone aside from one of his old fuck buddies he left her with about her, being an innocent lizard and all, he didn't want her caught up in this whole mess. Though he hated that the only person he could trust her with really hates lizards. She herself was a gift from his uncle. In some strange way he really would rather die and count on Max inadvertently setting her free, than let her die. She's his big green baby.

[Eric]

He ignored the question about the hair. Eric was a natural red head, always had been and he presumed his parents had been too, not that he knew who they were, or would ever find out. Quietly listening while Nate talked about his job at stoneage, puffing on his ciagrette. An eyebrow lifted at the name of Lucy. Reaching into a back pocket he pulled out a sheet of paper and a pen, pushing them across the table to Nate.

"So Lucy's like, what? A daughter? Sister? Just write down the address of where she's at and I'll go pick her up myself."

No one could argue that Eric wasn't a fair and decent person. Since Nate obviously had ties outside of the Stoneage network, Eric was more than willing to help out. Besides, whoever he picked Lucy up off would probably spill a few beans and drop something. You never knew what people tended to drop innocently into conversation, espically if they weren't in possession of all the facts.

Eric took a long drag on his ciagrette while he pondered over his next question. He was interested in how Nate avoided the system, but when you actually thought about it, if you found a good place to hide and didn't move during the collapse, you'd slip through just easy. Eric had only been 11, and in an orphanage anyway. Max had made the mistake of moving from his hiding spot, or someone had grassed him up. Either way...

He stabbed his fag out in the ashtray and stood up, making two cups of coffee. There was sugar and cream on the table next to the ashtray, and one mug he placed in Nate's general vicinity.

"So why'd you join up with Max then? Don't like the system? Feel that your freedom is being enroached? Or somehting else? What?"

[Nathan VanAlystir]

"She's an iguana. Big green one with a pink rhinestone collar." Though he wasn't entirely sure if he would bother, knowing she's just a lizard, he plucked up the pen and wrote out the address anyway. He hadn't told the bloke he left her with anything about Stoneage or the apartment Maxie let him sleep in when he felt like standing Kaida. The guy could possibly have picked up on a few things, but Nate never bothered to ask and they didn't really talk. He snuggled and fed and babied his Lucy, then fucked the guy to show his gratitude. As he shoved the note pad back over, he turned his gaze up to Eric with a sincere, flat look. "She's my baby, I love her a whole hell of a lot more than anything else in this world.."

He took one last drag from the cigarette he'd been burning away, stubbing it out in the ashtray before he plucked up the mug and got up to start pouring sugar and cream into it. During the collapse, Nate stayed tucked away in the bomb shelter his uncle had built and told no-one but him about. He had to eventually move out when it was mowed over to be built atop of, but he avoided the system and most of humanity in general, aside from flirting around and acting like an unpaid male prostitute. At least up until he met Maxie. Then it kept up, but he was more social. That was most likely his downfall. Pfft. It was most definitely his downfall there.

"I thought Maxie was cute." He tilted his head slightly while stirring his coffee, staring off. "I heard from someone I was fucking at the time about Maxie's campaign, and thought it would be something to get a good giggle from since they were blowing things up with such low-tech and --well obvious to me,-- explosives. I met Maxie and thought he was cute. So I showed him what I was capable of, and he let me follow them back." At least he was honest about being completely shallow. He lifted the mug for a little sip, lowering it again as he re-took his seat. "Then when I realized he wasn't treating me like shit, like an actual human being, I came across a conclusion. His dreams for this place are neat and I do believe as an anarchist that this world is better off with a peaceful society free of law and ever-watching eyes. But I don't care about that so much as blowing up as much of this world as possible before I die." His eyes narrowed for a second as he spoke that last sentence, then his features calmed again afterward.

"And if in the meantime I get to help Maxie a little to accomplish his goal and finally be free and happy for a change, I'm more than happy to help. He's a good guy, you know. He deserves better than the shit you people are putting him through. I don't care that you're just doing your jobs. I understand, but I don't like it." He fell silent for a few seconds, then laughed lightly with a mild grin. "Those are my incredibly deep and noble reasons. I'm such a freedom fighter." He rolled his good eye, then moved his mug up for another sip. "This is good coffee, not too weak."

[Eric]

Eric perked a brow. Maxie? Maxie? Did Max know Nate called him Maxie? He stifled a snicker and failed, turning it into a cough and shifting in his chair while he reached for the notepad and covering his smirking lips with his hand, another unconvincing fake cough resounding.

Lucy. Right. Lizard. Rhinestone pink collar. Well, that he'd take off the poor thing when he got it back to his and added it to his zoo. "Lucy'll be in good hands I swear. My hands. If you ever manage to get out, Max knows where I live..." He trailed off, it was very likely Nate already knew this. Idly rubbing at his eyes Eric sat back in his chair, listening to him prattle on about why and how Max "picked him up" Still incredibly amused that he thought Max was cute. His last recollection of the Terrorist Leader was that Max was probably still a virgin with no sexual drives what so ever. It was possible, he conceeding, but Max's curosity must plague him sometimes.

The motives were wrong though, and as far as Eric was concerned, Nate was rattling off a pile of freedom fighter stuff he'd heard before. Hand finally dropped to the table and level green eyes focused onto Nate's singular eye, tempted to reach across and batt that hair out the way to see the other. But he left it, unlikely to intrude on other people's personal space.

"he's the decent sort." Eric agreed finally, lounging back in his chair and taking a sip of his coffee. Black. S'how he liked it. "Maxwell is, I mean. And in all fairness, "we" do put him through a load of shit..." you could pratically hear the inverted comma's slot into place. "But he puts us through the same amount. So it all balances out, really. Drops me hints and clues, calling it all an unfinished exercise, and what a fun game. Bit psychotic really. So where is it you guys hang out?"

Nate was too clever for that, but he had sprouted all the freedom fighter shit so it was possible he might just blurt it out without stopping to think.

[Nathan VanAlystir]

Maxie knew, he called him Maxie to his face. Though the hidden laugh wasn't lost upon him. He gave a mild distasteful look to Eric for it. He wasn't just some kid with a crush, unlike so many others at Stoneage he could name, but he didn't really care what Eric thought of him. He just wanted to fuck Maxie, really. And he didn't make a secret of it, he thought this bullshit going around with others playing the 'romance game' was sickening. He was sure Maxie had much more important things on his mind than 'which bachelor or bacholorette should I choose?' And Nate himself had a lot more important things to worry about than having such a difficult time getting along with the others because he didn't want to play that same game of 'who will be Maxie's favorite'. He didn't really know Maxie was a virgin, it never occurred to him. Just thought he'd make a spectacular lay. It'd take all the stress off. Not that he'd ever have a chance to screw him now, thank you Mr. Latner.

He used the term 'freedom fighter' in sarcasm. But maybe all that shit he was spouting off really did sound like he was trying to be someone noble. He really didn't care. He had his chin resting on the back of the chair then, arms draped across it on either side, and he started staring into his coffee mug. Where do they hang out.. They hang out at his apartment when he's not home. They hang out up his little ward's ass, didn't he know? The boy can squeal. They hang out in Eric's head, wooo, this is all a dream. They hang out at the mall and buy pumps on sale. They're Stoneage, the fashion fighters! So many things that would make Lucy homeless.

"I forget.. And thanks. For taking care of Lucy. I trust you, you take good care of that dog Maxie gave you. I don't know why you keep mentioning me getting out of here though, I don't think I will. I don't really care. Though I'm a little disappointed I can't keep blowing shit up. And I'll never get to fuck Maxie now." He took another sip from the mug, then looked up at Latner again. "How is this place for conjugal visits? And phone calls? If you're going to lock me up it'd just be inhuman not to let me get a lay every now and again." He had a sudden thought then, and reached out to set down his coffee mug. "Oh. And the guys I screw around with.. I don't tell them anything, it'd be a waste to ask around and mess up their marriages."

[Eric]

"Conjugal visits and phonecalls all depend on how you behave Nathan." Eric said softly, shifting in his seat. "I don't know how clued up you are on our justice system these days, but pretty much every crime has got the death penelty. You've admitted to terrorist activites. You'll get a trial and a lawyer and all that, but the outlook doesn't look particularly good. Maybe if you, i dunno, switch sides or something they'll waver it, but it ain't up to me..."

He waved his hand in a non-commital way, before swallowing half of the contents of his coffee mug and clunking it back down on the desk. Eric wasn't going to say anything about knowing Max wouldn't leave someone behind he was close to, and if Nate was staying somewhere that wasn't on record, it was probably with Max. There wasn't very many hospitable places, and certainly none where Nate could doll himself up satisfactorly like looked at the Mall. After all, there isn't showering facilties in a travelling campsite.

"But if you've got anyone you want to call I'll let you at a phone once we're done in here. You can call as many as you want, but you've probably guessed the call will traced. Ok. So did Max ever tell you anything about his grand scheme? What's he's planning? What was running through his head? How he was actually planning on destroying this entire place? Where he was going to do it from?"

[Nathan VanAlystir]

"Wait, death? Is that what you said?" Nate's eyes narrowed even if only one was visible, and he slammed his hands down against the back of his chair, pushing himself up. He really had been too busy bothering with his own stupid things to think of paying attention to what the justice system had turned into. "You mean I could have blown us all up at the mall?! This whole stupid incarceration wouldn't have had to happen?!" Obviously flustered, Nate folded his arms across his chest, starting a back-and-forth pace behind his chair. Which would kinda be moving left and right from Eric's point of view where he had been seated.

"I could have, you know. I always figure out a way to blow anything up, I could have found the self-destruct switch and taken half the mall out." He glanced up at Eric. "But I didn't." A vague twitch of a half-smile touched the corner of his mouth, speaking semi-rushed. "Okay sure it was for my own selfish reasons and not that I cared about any of your lives, but still I hadn't done it, I should receive -some- kind of consideration for having spared the lives of dozens of people." He stopped pacing at that last part, and calmed down a bit only because he didn't want to be punched on top of it all. His day just already went from bad to worse. Of course the part about switching sides just went in one ear and out another without a moment's consideration. For two reasons. The cliche, he likes Maxie and doesn't want to betray the bit of trust he put into him because no-one's ever trusted him before, and the selfish, they wouldn't let him destroy all that he wants to and his freedom to leave some day to blow up more things would be severely squashed. He took in a deep breath and released it.

"Had Max ever told me.." He stared off at the wall thoughtfully, brow furrowed a bit. "I - I can't really say he has.." He was trying to dig up some kind of memory of the sort in the way of a chat or hints about it for his own purpose. It did hit him, the plan, but aside from maybe a brief flicker in that good eye his face gave no hint of revelation. He arched a brow. "Nope. That's depressing, you've gone and depressed me. Not only am I going to die in a way other than I had planned, but I'm going to die never knowing these things." He stayed standing, and kept his gaze on the wall while absently pushing the hair covering the left side of his face behind his ear. "I'll only need the phone if I get a conjugal visit while that stupid trial thing is going on. It's not like I have any friends or family or anything. You don't need to tell me your phones are bugged, I'm not that naive." As he dropped back down into his chair from the side finally, resting his elbows against his knees and his chin in his hands, his hair fell back over his face.

[Eric]

Ok. Eric would've at least thought they'd have known about the justice system. They hated everything else, so why not the justice system too? Sure'y he must've heard? He sat, contimplativly sipping on his coffee before reaching out and gently patting Nate on the the head.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much Nathan." He said gently. "It'll be at least a few years until you the sentence is passed. Plenty of time to figure out your own escape. Besides, you're much more useful to us alive so the OB might decide to keep you around as an information source until we actually catch Max and elimate Stoneage. Ain't gonna be hanging you at dawn or any shit like that."

It didn't seem right though, that Max wouldn't have told Nathan the plan. He must've at least told him some, because Max was the type that absently answered questions to keep you quite while he was thinking. Something was fishy here, something was off. Nathan wasn't telling him the truth, or at least all of it, and there was nothing he could really do about it.

No, that was a lie.

Johnny had mentioned something about a truth serum. A truth serum. Ok, you'd have to find the right questions, but if you asked them, you could be sure that whatever Nathan said would work. it would be true. There was no doubt in Eric's mind about Johnny being a genius. But then, there was the doubt in Eric himself and his abilty to answer the right question.

Glancing at his watch he stood up and emtptied his mug of coffee, leaving it on the table and moving to the door, unlocking it. "Come on, time for bed Nathan. I've unsettled you enough. We'll talk a bit more tomorrow eh? And from what you said Lucy will be anxious for something to eat. She got any favourites or anything?"

[Nathan VanAlystir]

Nate never gave much thought into the Justice System. The others probably had, but he wasn't in any position to defend all of Stoneage against a simple thought, considering he's no mind-reader and all. Nate's thoughts were generally set upon his own wants and needs at any particular time. He might have heard. He was probably told countless times. Things always had a tendency to go in one ear and straight out the other, when not related to work.

Nate didn't flinch to the pat to his head, though he did make a little sour face for it. Well a few years definitely was a good amount of time to figure an escape plan, he thought. Though he didn't like the sound of the title 'information source'. "I don't know anything to be an information source.. Don't even bother."

His gaze followed Eric with a good bit of ignorance as to what he could possibly be thinking. Truth serum would be very hard to get into Nate, what with the ability to squirm and all. Wouldn't be pretty. But of course Nate hadn't a clue of modern medicine to even know that shit existed outside of science fiction. He got to his feet as Eric requested, leaving his chair behind while moving to the door. He was still pouting some, arms folded across his chest and gaze lowered to the floor.

"Unsettled. That doesn't even begin to describe.." He stopped at the door, waiting for Eric to leave first, or indicate for him to. He's not sure about how the whole.. Leaving a room thing goes, for prisoners. "She's got a bag of fruit-flavored iguana food there. Her favorite treat is 'iguana yummies' sticks. There's a box of those there, too." Nate gave a thoughtful look at the floor for a few seconds in silence before turning his gaze back up to Eric. "I usually give her a stick before I leave at night, she's used to that."

[Eric]

Eric nodded, gesturing for Nate to step through first with his hand.

"Max taught me to never have anyone you're keeping an eye on walk behind you." As Nathan moved off, Eric began to think. Why was he so insistant that he didn't know anything? Was it possible? Not likely, Nathan had enough specilised abilty and talent with explosives to be more than just a distraction thrown out there. He'd *really* got a chance.

Or at least he'd thought. Maybe Nathan really didn't know anything, maybe Max was keeping his entire plan to himself, and only dropping subtle hints to his lackys. Hell, maybe, maybe. Christ, he didn't know. He knew even less than Nathan and that was more than a little frustrating. Eric really was working blind.

"Well, if you manage to think of anything you want to talk about Nathan, I'll leave you my cell number. Enjoy your dinner, I hear the food in here is pretty good."