[IC] This is the end (closed)

[KatherinWinter]

"Maybe there is a way to get the government to leave you alone." Katherin offer. "Maybe if we agree to work with them in exchange when their is a need as long as they allow us to lead normal lives the rest of the time. Like superheroes in comic books."

[nautilusmp]

"I don't think that's acceptable," Ruslan said. "Unless you want to sacrifice your ideals for that of your country's. And for me as a foreigner, it is even worse". For him, super non-heroes working for the government will sooner or later be used as tools to control the people, to say the least. "I don't want you to make an exchange just for this thing, it's useless. They know how to bend rules".

[KatherinWinter]

"I am willing to make the sacrifice. I have the least to lose." Katherin offered. "You should all think about it. We can run until we are old and gray. We can fight them and lose some of us. Or we can make a sacrifice."

[nautilusmp]

"Actually I don't want to negotiate with your government," Ruslan said. "But I have to put the team's interests ahead of my own," he said, implicitly contradicting his first sentence. He then remembered that he was initially asking for advice. "As for the trials, do you think it's good and safe if I join? If not, then how should I tell them? We can't just tell what happened to us".

[KatherinWinter]

"It is safe enough to join the trials. I don't see the government blowing you up. I think you will do well if you go." Katherin commented. "I think I will go for a walk. New York should give me a challenge to take my mind off other things."

[nautilusmp]

"Going for a walk in New York?" Ruslan asked. "You must be mad. You'll get lost in the biggest city in the world," he said. The idea of a blind woman walking around in a city like New York is completely unthinkable to Ruslan.

"As for my safety," he said, "The trial would be my comeback, so the government may not expect that. I won't be surprised if it's safe. But the next ones may not. Surprises don't work twice".

[KatherinWinter]

"Yes I have gone mad. I have been wondering cities blind for a number of years Ruslan." Katherin climbs to her feet. "From what I can see races after the trails depend greatly on how we decide to handle the government. If we can make a good deal or win our freedom and survive then you shall have your race career back."

[nautilusmp]

"But not a city this big," Ruslan said. He then responds about the trials. "That means if I am to make an immediate comeback, we'll have to solve this problem within a month. Question is, can we?"

[KatherinWinter]

"That I can not say. There are too many possibilities. I think the chances are good." Katherin careful finds her way next to Ruslan. She lays her hand on his cheek. "You can not have it both ways, Ruslan. You can not worry about my safe while planning to leave me behind."

[nautilusmp]

Within reaction time, Ruslan moves Katherin's hand away from his face. "You're not gonna do that," he said in a more light-hearted tone than his previous tone throughout the conversation. "You can do that. Defectors from communist countries do think about the safety of the people they left behind".

[KatherinWinter]

"Not going to do what?" Katherin asks uncertainly.

[nautilusmp]

"You're not gonna touch my face like that," Ruslan answered.

[KatherinWinter]

"Why not? I am fond of you, even if your not of me." Katherin puts her hands in her pocket. "You confuse me Ruslan. One minute you are trying to protect me from the dangers of the city the next your pushing me away when I try to show my affection. Please make up your mind. Do you wish to be friends or not?"

[nautilusmp]

"I might have confused you," Ruslan said. "I want us to be friends, indeed, but at the same time I have to prevent any extra feelings to develop, you know what I mean," he continued.

[KatherinWinter]

"Not to worry Ruslan. I know that we are not destined to be more then friend. It's nice to think about, but you belong to another and I belong to noone." Katherin reassured Ruslan as she moved towards the door of the room. "One nice thing about seeing the future is that it prevents me from making a fool of myself with men who have no interest."

[nautilusmp]

"Come on, don't leave while giving a sarcastic remark like that," Ruslan said, raising his voice a bit. "I don't think that's a good signal".

[KatherinWinter]

"I'm not being sarcastic. I'm being honest. I promise not to wonder off. But I'm done with this conversation." Katherin replies angrily as she leaves the room. She slammed a door behind her. She felt around to discover she was in a bathroom. Oh well she thought to herself as she locked the door. I might as well take a nice hot bathe while I have the chance.

[nautilusmp]

Ruslan wonders what went wrong during the conversation. He still believes he did the right thing, at least if the person he was talking to wasn't Katherin. "This team is a collection of freaks. Perhaps they need different treatment," he said to himself.

[KatherinWinter]

"You don't get it, Ruslan." Liz said calmly. She worried about her sister. But she knew Katherin needed some space right now. "Of all of us Katherin has the least to look forward to. If we find away to make a deal with the government she had no job or friends to look forward to returning to."

[nautilusmp]

"So, what had she been doing before this?" Ruslan asked.