Near the Hudson (closed)

[Tron]

In the weeks after the Prophecy, Jarod had chosen to back off from almost everyone, except for a few visits with Kitty. Everyone knew what that girl had said, and the instructors were dead set on keeping an eye on him. It made him feel like a bug in a jar.

There was one person that girl had mentioned that he knew wasn't at the Mansion, and that was the red-eyed guy...partly because he knew from a surreptitious dive into the school computer system that there were no mutants at the school currently who had that particular eye color. And he'd been at the Hellfire that night because Omen had mentioned him. So Jarod chose to seek him out.

He checked around the Net and eventually stumbled across the name of someone who went to Hellfire a lot. That name led to another name, and then another, and finally it came out that the red-eyed guy supposedly connected to the Prophecy went by Gambit as an alias. It took him a while but he figured out to drop his online contact a line about arranging a meet up with Gambit somewhere out of the way. He had no idea what questions he'd ask, but at least it was someone NOT at the Mansion to talk to.

He waited outside a pier on the Hudson as per the agreed arrangment, feeling out of place where he stood, with warehouses and closed buildings surrounding them. He felt like he should maybe have worn something different instead of his usual jeans and polo, just because this didn't seem like that type of place.

[Gambit]

There had been a surge of attention coming his way lately; it was unusual but not unexpected. Gambit easily connected most of this to the announcement of the Prophecy - Omen hadn't exactly been subtle when she called out his name, but he could live with that. Any extra attention he'd get from those interested could be turned to his profit, too, if he played it right, and he had reasons to believe he certainly would.

So when he received a word of someone wanting to meet him, he treated in a similar manner and was actually looking forward to the meeting. Working his way back along the line of contacts that had lead the other person to him had been kind of difficult, but at least it had given him a name. Gambit remembered quite well that 'Jarod' had been one of the names pronounced by Omen during that night at the Hellfire.

Having parked his bike a bit further off, he approached the place carefully but at a relaxed pace. There was only one person standing there and Gambit hadn't noticed any signs of a possible ambush, so he assumed the meeting would be safe.

"A nice place for a meetin'," he complimented, walking closer.

[Tron]

Tron jumped a mile; it felt like the guy had come out of nowhere. "Um...yeah, yeah it is."

[Gambit]

Gambit studied the guy; he seemed like a very young boy, around twenty. Not that it mattered, of course, getting involved in something like a prophecy could happen at any age.

"Gambit," Remy stated the unnecessary for the sake of etiquette, extending his hand.

[Tron]

Tron pulled his hand out of his pocket and took Gambit's in his usual firm grip; at least THAT hadn't deserted him. "Um...yeah, I know. I'm Jarod...uh, Tron, but that's probably obvious."

[Gambit]

(( should it be? I hope I'm interpreting this correctly ))

Recalling the chain of digital sources the guy had to go through before he could arrange this meeting, Gambit nodded. "I'd say so," he agreed. "Impressive. So what's th' deal?"

[Tron]

((He meant it being obvious that he was the Jarod that Gambit was supposed to meet up with. I didn't word it quite right, my bad ))

Now Jarod felt like he didn't know where to start, so he went with the first thing that came to mind: honesty. "I'm trying to figure out what's on with this whole...Prophecy thing. That girl mentioned your name. I thought you might know something."

[Gambit]

"Ah," Gambit said, finally sorting in what the meeting was about. He had actually been right in his guess. He looked at the river and said, after a pause, "it really depends." He wasn't used to opening any of his cards at once, and so he had to test the ground first. He asked, to confirm something what had already more or less established itself in his mind, "Is your power related t' anythin' tech?"

[Tron]

Jarod bit his lip. "Uh, yeah. I'm a technopath." He knew there were other words for it, but that's the label he usually gave himself. Whether or not it was a good idea to admit it, there it was.

[Gambit]

"Dat case," Gambit said, studying the young man closely, "what I know so far involves you an' Gambit, directly." Briefly he recalled Omen's words, recounting the details that specifically involved him in this whole scenario. "Apparently, ya gonna create de A.I., am I correct?"

[Tron]

"Not if I can help it," Jarod replied defensively, not liking that Gambit seemed so definite about it.

[Gambit]

"I guess dis would kinda cancel de whole thing," Gambit agreed, not minding either way. As far as prophecies and other mystical stuff went, he obeyed the current and accepted any turn of events. "But ya ain't de only figure on de board, unfort'nately. Too many people are involved, an' she said two people would create de A.I. Let's jus' suppose what's been announced, happens?"

[Tron]

"Then we're screwed," Jarod said flatly. "Apparently." He sounded like a scared kid and he knew it, but he didn't like this prophecy crap, and it showed.

[Gambit]

"Not if we can help it, non?" Gambit asked; his brow creased in momentary confusion and sympathy for the young guy's hopeless remark. "Which brings me t' me an' you. De prophet girl said I was s'posed to help ya."

[Tron]

Tron's eyebrows both went up. "She said that specifically?" It hadn't been anything he'd heard that night.