A conversation about Sentinels

[Gambit]

Gambit put a hand on her shoulder, letting her know with a glance that he'd take care of the situation or would at least make it less uncomfortable for her. Technically, she could only share plain facts with Nicholas and not have to concentrate on her attitude towards the whole incident. That was possible. Plus, it had been two weeks - he was hoping the acuteness of her experience had dulled somehow.

[Shade]

Shade turned her head slightly when she felt Gambit´s hand on her shoulder, giving him a little smile. She wished she was a telepath, she could have told him it was Nimrod freaking her out, not his mention of the sentinel attack as such. "I know him." her eyes seemed to tell. "He didn´t trust me , I don´t trust him." It was all she could do with the other man still around. She knew too little of Nimrod to tell him much.

"I talked about everything to Xavier." Shade said, turning to face Nimrod again who had started to walk towards the table her words indicating that she was both bewildered and didn´t see the necessity of another interrogation

[Nimrod / Nicholas]

<data stream<Continued glances from Shade to Gambit.............Need for support?........attempts at non-verbal communication?..............Something else?>>
<thoughts<? ? ?.........Gambit said Xavier told him nothing about me. Perhaps She has told him nothing about me. Would it be arrogant of me to believe that people would automatically talk about me. >>


::to Shade ::
".........I guess it must have been an excuse too see how you were, how you fared against 'them'....."

<<..I guess I am just figuring that out........Flaws in my logic I could drive a humpback through....major errors? ? ? ? ?..>>


"Is there something you would like me to tell Gambit now."

[Shade]

Shade kept looking at the other man. "Tell him what you want to tell him." she said, not sure what it was Nimrod wanted. Did he want to take away from her anxiety which he sensed most clearly?

[Gambit]

Gambit was still trying to put together the concepts of "robot" and "teacher at Xavier's" together and to combine those with the fact that Shade said she didn't trust him - Shade, of all people, who he thought to trust anybody first and question them later. What it took to be not trusted by her, he couldn't imagine. Maybe she was simply wary of the fact that he was a robot? If he, indeed, was one.

He glanced at Hunter with a question, not really certain what could be done here.

[Nimrod / Nicholas]

<<No one else should hear this.>>

#data#Engaging force field around us, set to sonic, adjusted for a silence bubble .#

"The staff and some students know that I was a robot, and am now a self aware artificial life form. But only Xavier, Magneto, and a few X-men know that I was a Sentinel before I became self-aware."

[Shade]

Nimrod´s words explained all Shade´s fears in a way that could not have been more precise. She had gathered information about him, months back, mostly because her and Rogue had been suspicious of Nimrod and him not being a mutant and still having sorts of powers it seemed. They had literally nagged Magneto into giving them some information and in the end they had gotten a brief introduction into what Wideawake was, along with a warning to keep away from Nimrod. Even though Shade no longer relied on Magneto´s judgement, the knowledge what Nimrod was was enough to react the way she had reacted, when he had stepped into the Hellfire minutes ago.

She tossed Gambit a wordless glance and nodded ever so slightly, which would clearly tell him that she had been one of the few to know.

[Gambit]

As the sound around them disappeared, leaving them to talk in the silence of a hollow cement cube, Gambit fixed his eyes on Nicholas. He had no disbelief at the other man's words, he'd seen far weirder things in his life to mistrust information of a self-aware Sentinel. That also perfectly explained Shade's reaction to Nicholas's appearance at the Hellfire Club. It didn't explain how he had been let inside the Club, however, but Gambit took one thing at a time.

"How do I know you are to be trusted?" he asked. Xavier obviously trusted the other man to be around, but Gambit preferred to rely on his own means of judging that.

[Nimrod / Nicholas]

"Logically. you should not. I was the one to inform Xavier and Magneto about wideawake, and my true nature, to the extent of surrendering myself to deep examination, and samples taken.

But logically, I should still be watched.

I believe Erik functions on the 'Keep your enemies closer' rule. He was very quick to allow me 'acceptance' to the school. Xavier still has me under a probation of sorts. I think both know that I could observe the school covertly if I wished. This is a way to keep an eye on me."

Nimrod hesitated

"Since I am now self aware, I can change my mind about what were my hard-wired directives from my makers. I still consider the PRIME one 'protection of humanity' a viable one.

However the rest appear to be based on faulty logic.

A war with Mutants would cause devastation.

Even their definition of humanity seems limited. Humanity is more than just biology. "

[Shade]

Shade learned a whole lot from what Nimrod was saying. Ideas and semi-knowledge was slowly turning into facts, confirming and strengthening what she knew already. "Of course it is." she said. But she had always felt wary around him. "Being observed like that though, does not necessarily strengthen trust. Mutants are as little a test subject as the rest of humanity." What had those people expected? That having mutants watched and observed like an interesting new species of animals would not arouse mistrust and fear?

[Nimrod / Nicholas]

"You misunderstand Shade. My human makers did not program me to observe Mutants, I chose that option. I had intended to reveal my true nature early on, but Xavier asked me not to. Though Xavier's request that I keep my nature a secret is wearing on me. Do you think that was wise?"

:After Shade or Gambit replies.:

"The second directive they programmed into me was to eliminate the 'danger' of the mutant population. Their intent to use sentinels to eliminate the 'danger' posed by mutants would create a war. Their assumption of a threat posed by humanity is more a cultural difficulty of incorporating new minorities into the rest of society then a problem with the powers themselves."

[Gambit]

"If you ask me, keeping stuff secret is more beneficial than not," Gambit said. "But you can judge your own choices yourself, obviously."

He was still rather wary of the other man, but was informed now and felt better about it. So now he glanced at Shade, silently letting her decide whether she still wanted to continue that conversation and keep talking about Sentinels.

[Shade]

What Nimrod had said earlier on about Magneto was different from the impression she had gotten. Magneto had been more wary of Nimrod than Nimrod was probably aware of, Shade thought. Magneto had warned not only her but also Rogue. Another sign for how skilled the other man was in using his charms she thought with an inward snort.

It was good Gambit had heard all this. She knew he liked being informed about things and if she had broken off this conversation earlier due to her own uneasyness, she would have deprived him of that. With getting information from Nimrod first hand, that would be much better, especially since it was knowledge not based on the rumours and things she had known before and which could not have given the complete picture. She caught Gambit´s gaze across the counter, briefly considering her options. After a moment she decided that, if Gambit chose to hear more he could do this, but she did not feel too comfortable in Nimrod´s presence despite everything he had said. Her mistrust still sat too deep although her feeling was telling her that his talking made sense. Her instincts however contradicted. She gave Gambit a nod, telling him that if he wanted to, he could continue the conversation.

"Excuse me for a moment." she said and got up.

[Nimrod / Nicholas]

"If my presence bothers you, I apologize. I will not try to convince you to stay. Goodbye, be well, and I hope we can meet sometime when you feel........well......"

"I hope you can find strength in what you endured and come through the other side ......... whole."