| 01; video |

[sofentheblow]

[ The last thing Karla Sofen remembers before coming here is not, in fact, home -- or, rather, not the home of her time.. More specifically, the last thing she remembers is being captured by an alternate future reality’s clone equivalent to her home world’s Doctor Strange.

She remembers the revolting sensation of another’s will probing into her mind and grasping hold like so many intrusive, slithering psychic tentacles.

And being dressed up like Carol Danvers. (Of fucking course. And that’s how she came in -- red, blue, gold, sash and all -- though she’s back to her own white and gold now.)

It’s an awful lot of reality-hopping in quite a short span of time, but this one’s already vastly preferable to the last. Full control of her own mental faculties. She remembers again, then stops herself -- she’ll be too angry to do what she needs to do now if she dwells on it.

Her video switches on; Karla’s looking much calmer than she feels, her expression neutral. ]

Hello, everyone, I--

[ She pauses like she’s thought of something; before she says another word, she reaches up, peels the white mask from her face. It’s a completely surface gesture -- she certainly won’t be doing its metaphorical equivalent on here. ]

I’m sure everyone does this, when they’re new here? The… “does anyone know me, is anyone here from home?”... thing? I’m Karla Sofen, I’m on Luke Cage’s Thunderbolts team back home--

[ Hell no, she’s not above a well-placed name-drop! ]

--And. You know the drill, I’m sure. Is anyone here from my home world?

Comments

voice.

[selfequipped]

[Luke Cage's Thunderbolts. That part definitely gets her attention.]

There are a number of people from our world. A handful. [And more than that, she'd be willing to bet.] But we don't always all know each other.

voice.

[sofentheblow]

[ Bishop. Bishop. That's-- oh. She can't be blamed for paying distant attention to Clint Barton's general existence; the girl's the other Hawkeye. Okay. She can work with this. ]

Hi. Anyone we'd be less than thrilled to see?

[ "I'd be," she'd almost said, but that creates all sorts of unnecessary distance. Besides, little Hawkeye can't very well be expected to answer for Karla. ]

voice;

[slightlyoffchilt]

It's a pity, then, that you'll find yourself in familiar company.

voice;

[sofentheblow]

[ Unfamiliar name, unfamiliar voice, and the marginal frustration that tends to creep in when she's feeling this acutely out of the know. ]

Pity, how? [ Familiar, how? ]

Voice

[liverletdie]

Doctor Sofen.

[ Since when is Luke Cage running the thunderbolts? ]

What a pleasant surprise, to see your face here.

Voice

[sofentheblow]

[ Uh.

Is it?

There's a half a moment of hesitation there before it sinks in again -- this Tony Stark hasn't experienced Osborn's disastrous attempt at running an Avengers team, wouldn't equate her with that --

Lucky him, honestly. Matching his inflection -- it's accommodating, not mocking: ]

Tony Stark. [ But she does opt for first name rather than "Mr."

Too formal. ]

Have you been here long?

video

[boobwindow]

[ In costume, etc. ]

Not that I'm familiar with the team name, but "Luke Cage's Thunderbolts"? Do different people run different Thunderbolts teams?

video

[sofentheblow]

Hi?

[ Not that the team's current iteration could be called a favorite of Karla's -- partial imprisonment and 0 leadership discretion aren't really her cup of tea -- but under Cage's direction it's almost certainly been perceieved as the most legitimate by others. She's not oblivious to that. ]

Different people have.

voice;

[harryingjet]

The Thunderbolts, hmm?

I must say, you have an excellent name for a team.

voice;

[sofentheblow]

Thanks.

[ Her voice verges on playful. ]

I had nothing to do with the naming, but. You are?

VIDEO.

[retconman]

[ That's some costume, isn't it? Very eye-catching, though Max finds her attitude more interesting than the costume. ]

Not everyone, but it does seem to be a well-accepted tradition. At least you take the direct approach.

Max Lord. What are the Thunderbolts, Karla?

VIDEO.

[sofentheblow]

[ Yes. Karla "direct approach" Sofen. She does glow a little at the preemptive praise.

This part's easy: variations on the practiced answer she'd given countless times before, when the team had more opportunities for media interaction. ]

It's a reformation effort. Back home. Takes superpowered criminals, trains them to do something better with their lives.

[ Oh, she's gearing up to spin this. ]

AUDIO.

[selfimage]

This is what it feels to be name dropped, doesn't it?

[he doesn't entirely care, but he should make some sort of appearance. he has been mentioned, after all.]

Hello.

AUDIO.

[sofentheblow]

[ Loki. Okay. Little Hawkeye wasn't kidding with this. ]

...Seriously?

[video]

[myownbestfriend]

[Thunderbolts: check. Thank goodness somewhat-reformed X-Men villains end up on better teams than that. Quicksilver managed to land a first-string Avengers slot, and he's bloody intolerable.

Luke Cage: check. Though last time she'd bothered to care about non-X-Men heroes enough to see what the rest of the superpowered world had been up to, he'd been on some Avengers spin-off team with that nice Doreen girl...but who can keep track of all that Avengers drama? Who would want to?

Karla Sofen: ...check? The name's vaguely familiar and wanders around Emma's consciousness until her superb recall (go ahead, ask her obscure details about about any couture collection in the past decade) connects it to something more relevant: Moonstone. And then to memories borrowed from Logan of Osborn's ersatz Avengers lineup of villains.

Well, isn't that lovely. Emma can't remember if Moonstone has any psychic defenses besides an unpleasant personality, but a luncheon with her might prove...informative.]

Hello, Dr. Sofen.

[It remains to be seen whether there's room enough in this town for two unethical blond reformed supervillain therapists with a gemstone theme and a predilection for white.]

[video]

[sofentheblow]

[ Telepaths.

Great.

This is... not ideal. On the other hand, Karla just got off the "forced psychic probing" boat; she's not about to board that one again. So. Find out what Frost wants, then... cooperate really hard, probably. Cross that bridge when she gets to it; no use having plans laid out when they can be read anyway. ]

Ms. Frost. It's a pleasure. [ She clears her throat. ] Circumstances aside.

[ "'''''''Reformed.'''''''''' So it does. ]

[pyms]

[ Luke's Thounderbolts. That was ... over 3 years ago? Before he goes off tangent and wonder why they don't just bring everyone from the same time, he introduces himself. ]

There's going to be a lot of familiar faces here. Luke, unfortunately, isn't among them.

[sofentheblow]

[ Oh, no. Luke isn't here to contradict any of her elaborations on her tenure with his team. That is unfortunate. So unfortunate. ]

I'd say I'm sorry to hear that but then... that means he's home, not having his life disrupted, doesn't it?

[ No, she doesn't quite know how this all works yet. ]

Voice

[theblackleopard]

It's a common way of establishing yourself here, yes.

I do know you however, so I can assume we are from similar worlds. My name is T'Challa, I'm a close friend of Luke's. [And he's also the Black Panther and the former King of Wakanda but ahhhh. That stuff is ttly not important!!]

Voice

[sofentheblow]

[ A close friend of Luke's. Nifty. That's not helpful at all when she's only interested in the name-drop, T'Challa!

Or, well, it could be. ]

It's an honor.

video;

[infomodder]

[He's not exactly fond of this whole video function, but the room she's in looks dreadfully familiar. It's possible all the rooms in the various houses are set up the same way, but the more he looks at it, the more he's convinced it's in the same house as his. Long days, headaches, taking medication—he'd come back to it and gone into the wrong room without realizing it, sat down, and it looks like that exact room. He wasn't snooping empty ones, just tired. It could happen to anyone.

He's not in his room now, obvious by all the fishing goods lining the wall behind him. He might want to move into it at this rate. If she is in the same house and a psychiatrist—hell, he might just move to Virginia.

So it's that and Will, shaggy haired unshaven guy in what could be called dad clothes with a cast on one hand, looking past her instead of at her.]

You're in house eight?

[If it seems weird for him to know that (or say it with such conviction), he doesn't recognize as much. It's better than just "hello, what are Thunderbolts, can you explain your entire life to me?" isn't it?]

video;

[sofentheblow]

[ Uh. Yes?

It's a totally unproductive gesture, but out of instinct Karla cranes her head, looking around at the blank walls behind her. The room's still empty, apart from the government-provided furnishings -- blame the fact that she just got in, although she's never really learned to make spaces her own. It'll look more or less the same a month from now.

Stun-wise, she recovers well. A nod (because apparently that information's out there too, somehow), then smoothly: ]

I am. How did you--

[ Correction, mostly smoothly. Anyway, sit rep on the guy: unkempt, distracted, kind of intense. Are those fishing rods? ]

voice;

[notdaredevil]

[God, he'd forgotten Luke had done that. If he knew in the first place? Hard to keep up with everyone's shenanigans. But Luke, Luke, of all people to recruit...you probably could have picked better.]

Well, unfortunately, Luke's not here.

[Matt sure wishes he were, though.]

I'm sure he'd be flattered he was worth a mention.

[...less sure on that part.]

voice;

[sofentheblow]

[ It's too bad he's opted for voice; she looks downright pleased to see that name pop up on her comms device.

She's been scanning earlier network entries in the time between replies. Matt's most recent one in particular seems... useful.

Dispensing with the "pretending to wish Luke Cage were here" pleasantries: ]

Matt Murdock. I was hoping I'd get to speak to you sooner rather than later.

[symbionic]

[We know you.

We, not him- Flash has never met this woman. But the details are easy to fill in. Venom knows. They know her voice and they know her tricks. He doesn't go looking for the memories, but he doesn't have to, for it to tell him what he needs to know. To be careful. She's fought at their side; she'll know their weaknesses.

But this time, she doesn't know them. And that's a good card to be holding.]

Really? The Luke Cage?

[All innocent bystander awe; he's good at lying, now. He'll talk and they will watch.]

v...ideo...? (your/flash's call etc etc)

[sofentheblow]

[ She raises a brow. That's a lot of enthusiasm, but too early to tell if that's not genuine, if a little lame. ]

As far as I know, yes.