calling_logs | With the touch of a button.

Entry tags:

With the touch of a button.

WHO: Betty Barnes and anyone who happens upon her.
WHAT: Eating, surveilling, and figuring out the city.
WHEN: Lunchtime.
WHERE: City of Tomorrow.
NOTES/WARNINGS: None as yet.

The odd little device had appeared beside her makeshift cot, which was suspect in and of itself. For a span of time she hadn't really bothered to count, Betty had been careful to keep her head down, doing what needed to be done to stay off the radar just in case someone recognised her and decided to make her useful again.

That wasn't on her schedule. Not now, not ever. And that was why it had unsettled her to suddenly find a phone-ish thing suddenly beside her. She'd walked away from it, only for it to come back to her. She'd tossed it into moving trucks and had it back hours later. She'd even shot it, but no dice.

In the end, she started to prowl through it, seeing what it did, looking for any symbols or hints that it was from someone she should be wary of. The oddest thing had been how benign it seemed. She'd watched chatter scroll through, none of it setting off her internal alarm bells.

The only button that was confusing was the one that said 'Transport.' There was no way it was accurately labeled, though - or so Betty thought until she pressed it and found herself in completely unknown territory. Her hypervigilance had kicked in immediately, and only after a little walking around and a few exercises she'd read up on from a library could her shoulders start to crawl down from around her ears.

Right now, with her back to the exterior wall of the cafe she'd chosen, she ate from a plate she'd watched be prepared, and she watched her surroundings. So far, it actually seemed... safer. This part, at least.

She'd have to think about that.

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She nodded, smiling as she looked down at her hands. A moment later, she pulled out her CALL device, started to poke around at it.

"You still up for finding a room together?"

That was an easy nod. "Guess I need to find some work, too. If they're used to people popping up outta nowhere, they're probably used to hiring without a lot of papers." And that would be what clinched it for her. She didn't have even the smallest scrap of ID except for her tags, which she'd dug out of Hydra storage.

"Makes sense."

The device has an app for available housing. It even has the option of sorting by city.

"I'll make a list. You can check off what looks good. I'll make the arrangements."

Betty's device chimes. Rita's sent her contact info.

Betty blinked at the sound and had to dig through a few pockets to find it. Not surprisingly, she'd left the thing up in the hotel room. Now, there it was, dinging in her pocket. She wasn't sure if she liked that or hated it.

Either way, she looked at it and tried to decipher what she was supposed to do with it. Contact info. Okay. But she was right there.

Modern weirdness.

She sighed and offered her CALL thing over to Rita. "Okay, here, do whatever you need to do on mine to... to whatever. To make it recognise you."

Betty Barnes: world's youngest tech-ignorant grandma. She'd learn. She just hadn't yet.

Rita gave a small smile. "You want, I can walk you through it. Later, of course."

She took the device and after a moment's poking at it, she handed it back.

"Trust me, you'll wonder one day what you did without one of these bloody things."

"I'll figure it out later. I'm not stupid, I'm just..."

Well. What was she?

She was unlearning her programming. Learning to ask questions again. Learning to explore. For decades, she'd been used to kill people. Now she was figuring out how to be people.

So... so what was she? After a few seconds, she finally decided.

"Inexperienced."

But there was one more thing.

"Out of practice."

"I know. Every time one of these gets an upgrade, I go through a period of feeling like an idiot. It comes with the territory."

Of all the people Betty could fall in with, Rita probably understood better than most.

"You'll get the hang of it, I have no doubt."

"I used to be a nurse. Cutting-edge battlefield stuff. Now, I look at this thing and it's like I'm trying to read Mayan petroglyphs. And here I am, trying to figure out how I know the word 'petroglyphs'." Betty shook her head, sighing, and relented to her sandwich at last, picking it up. "Yeah, I'll figure it out."

The waiter brought Rita's coffee and she thanked him quietly.

"You ever want a quick brief on it, what you can do with it, you let me know. I'd be happy to sit down with you, give you the run down. It's really no more complicated than an assault rifle or a field suture kit, once you know what to expect."

That was easy enough to consent to. Betty nodded without hesitating. "Sounds good. Maybe tonight. I was planning on looking around more today. Seeing what to expect from this place."

She'd already seen this city and the City of Shadows. There were a few more that she at least needed to glance at. Even if she was wary of a few of them.

"Good plan. I was planning on heading up to the Satellite, see what I can find out up there. And then I thought -- I really want to go for a swim. I hear there are ocean beaches here. Somewhere."

She was mid-chew when she heard what Rita said.

Beaches. Ocean beaches. Not like the rock-and-trash-strewn, possibly toxic beaches of New York. Hell, it was possible she'd been to a few beaches in her life, but if she had, it definitely hadn't been for pleasure. But now...

Betty bit her tongue. The beach. Fuck, she wanted to go, but she also knew that going to the beach, for most people, meant wearing at least shorts, T-shirts, probably bathing suits...

No. No, she couldn't do that. Not just now. So she shook her head a little. "Sounds nice. But I think I'll pass on beaches for now. The Satellite... maybe. It'd be a good view."

Rita sees her companion's reaction and she pauses.

"I'll scout it out. Let you know what I find. Maybe we can find a secluded bay or something. Or a running trail. Do you run?"

For once, Betty found herself almost ready to laugh. And not just laugh - laugh almost hysterically. Did she run?

"Yeah," she said, "I've been running for a while."

From everything. From Hydra, from Steve, from anybody who might recognise her. From reality, from memories, from hell...

"I'm pretty good at it."

Rita's lips press thin in a wry grin.

"Yeah, no. I mean long distance. I use it to get out of my head."

She knew. She'd just also known that the joke was right there in front of her, and for once, she had to grab it. So she nodded, answered honestly - "Not really. I'm pretty sure I could, but I've not ever done it intentionally."

"Well, maybe I can drag you along with me one of these days. We'll get you some running gear. We'll blend right in with the rest of the normals. Maybe pretend like we are one of them, for a little while, anyway."

"Running gear better have long sleeves and a glove," she said, but there was no other protest. Sure. She'd run. Hell, she could probably use the basic practice. Get back into the feel of things instead of just keeping her head down and trying to keep from having to fight.

"Of course. Though, you know, you're in an era now where you're not the only vet running around with metal bits where their limbs used to be. Sure, yours has a shiny red star on it, but you can tell people you're a huge fan of Pellegrino."

She turns the vase of flowers around so Betty can see the little red star on the logo.

"But it's entirely up to you. Whatever you're comfortable with."

"I might be followed. If they're pulling people from everywhere, they could pull Hydra as easy as they could pull you." And that meant staying on her guard. Even if things here might be a little safer.

Maybe.

She hoped.

"Easier to write off covering one arm as circulation problems."

Rita nodded, not disputing the fact.

"Makes sense to me."

She sipped her coffee, frowning.

"Betty, if you ever even think they're here for you, you'll let me know, won't you?"

"If I catch a hint, yeah." Problem was, Hydra was Hydra. They'd made a habit of being covert for decades. Just because they'd been outed didn't mean that they weren't still operating in plain sight without being seen. She knew better.

"If I don't, well, we'll both find out at about the same time."

"And we'll deal with it."

Rita spoke with a certain finality that spoke volumes. She wasn't good at much else, but dealing with those sorts of things? Yeah, that she could do.

"What are your plans for the rest of the day?"

Her initial answer to that was a shrug. "Look for work. Look for an apartment. Might be cheaper in the City of Shadows, and we can both protect ourselves, but I might check what the prices are here, too." It was worth looking at, anyway.

She waved a hand, lightly dismissive.

"Don't worry about the cost. I've got that covered. Just find some place you're comfortable. Some place you can feel at home in. I've got enough in my bank account, I can put down a year's rent in advance."

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