Project Infinity: Kitty Pryde Logs: May 2002

May 2002: Ghost of a Chance

These are logs of roleplay on Project Infinity, a text-based online RPG. I play Kitty Pryde there, a young woman sometimes better known as Shadowcat. Kitty is not by any means my original creation; she belongs to Marvel Comics. The take on her is original, though, as this Kitty's timeline diverges from mainstream continuity close to twenty RL years' worth of comics ago.

Previous Month: Preludes page: incidents before Kitty's arrival in Beacon Harbor.

Next Month: June 2002 page: Guns on the Roof.

April/May 2002

April 30: "Don't even /say/ it." Welcome to Beacon Harbor, Kitty Pryde; hope you survive the experience.

May 1: "I'm going to shut up now and let you talk." Pete Wisdom gives Kitty the basic explanation of the Infinity Project, which leads to the question of how parallel their particular universes actually are.
"Context would be good." The continuation of that conversation. It's really a good thing the next morning started with the call that prompted the next log. Language, mild sexual overtones.

May 2: Dramatic Developments on West Main. People around Kitty never just give notice when they're having problems with their employers. It always seems to involve blowing things up... Language, drug use, violence.
"Sanity? Englishmen? You /are/ from another world." When you go home, you get to relax. Right? Riiiight. Kitty meets half the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and Lockheed brings by a Russian to visit. Somehow, no-one actually leaves their sanity under the couch.

May 3: "You're ruining a great self-destructive bender with common sense, Pete." Spidey's attempt to catch up with Wisdom and his strange chick is interrupted by a less-expected visitor. Language, mild gore, darkangst.
"I'm not complaining. For once." A private chat after the visitor's asleep; a little explanation, a little planning, a little sappiness.

May 4: "Humor the secret agent who's lost you twice. I need a drink." Another morning in the Wisdom household. Pete explains something of the Seravina situation to Kitty; the two of them try to prepare for the unpredictable. Sexual overtones, language.
Interlude, in progress: Wisdom and Kitty pick up clothes for the new arrival, and cellphones.
"Your shopping lists have to be mind-boggling." "You should see the contents of the fridge." Seishi invites Kitty over for tea and chat. There proves to be much more chat than tea. Much.
Brief interlude, unplayed: Kitty tracks down Wisdom in the library.

May 6: "These people are insane. Thank God they're on my side." Lindsey gets visitors in the hospital.
"I thought I'd drop in and see if I was still on the black list." A mutant, a ninja, an ex-spy, a hacker, and Eris walk into a bar... Sadly, this log was interrupted by Logan's ISP having problems.
"If I started calling you Hello Kitty, would you hurt me a lot?" The second half of the Feng's Bar log; between these two, Logan stormed out and apparently wound up beating on Eris before they came back in and talked, and Kitty explained quietly to Seishi that she'd known a counterpart of Logan's. Mild language, though still really amazingly minor for a Wisdom log.

May 8: "Don't laugh at the Mountie. And don't fall for him, either." A conversation with Ray, cut short for reasons of terrible OOC scheduling accidents. Mild language.
"I'm armed!" With pizza. Kitty and Pete meet a rather different, but still recognizable, Nightcrawler. Sooner or later, she'll stop taking things for granted.
There is a continuation of this scene still being played.

May 9: "Um - don't mean to pry, but was she at least a human being?" Seishi stops by Pete's flat. Discussion topics include jazz, the Yakuza, and the tale of Acathla. Kitty's stress levels finally start to show toward the end.

May 11: "They don't know if she'll ever wake up." A run-in with Ray, in the rain. He has ... unfortunate news. This log is a lead-in to In the Arms of Morpheus. Language.
"Add to the note 'play nice, children.'" Kitty and Pete go to the hospital for Seravina and Constantine. This log is a lead-in to In the Arms of Morpheus.

In the Arms of Morpheus

Given little space on a back page, lower corner, a small tidbit was printed regarding a possible meningitis breakout. Thus far there seem to be 4 possible victims, with one currently in intensive care. Because meningitis has been known to be fatal, they are all under close supervision at the Lighthouse Hospital. (Beacon Harbor news services, May 2002)

The entirety of this plot can be found at Seravina's LiveJournal, beginning with Part 1 on May 10. The logs here are only those that Kitty herself is involved in.

May 12: "We're carrying each other's name." Part 7. Pete and Kitty are drawn into the dreamscape: Pete in the ruins of Dream Nails, Kitty at an oddly silent Xavier's School. The entirety of this plot is rated NC-17.

May 14: "It's all images in her head, isn't it?" Part 12. Pryde and Wisdom take a breath of time to bring one another up to speed. The entirety of this plot is rated NC-17.
"How can I know what I'll sacrifice without knowing the game?" Part 14, first half. Seishi and Holmes join Pete and Kitty in the pub ... and so does someone far less expected. Answers are not given. (This log had to be posted in two pieces for technical reasons.) The entirety of this plot is rated NC-17.
"We need to find the break." Part 14, second half. Pirate Kitty, on a ship of the dead; Holmes, Seishi, a teenaged Pete, and ... Seravina. (This log had to be posted in two pieces for technical reasons.) The entirety of this plot is rated NC-17.

May 15: "I hope this insight meets with your approval." Part 15. Sometimes, the only way you can tell whether you're making progress is that everything starts to fall apart. The entirety of this plot is rated NC-17.

May 16: "It isn't easy to explain." Part 17. Home is not always where the heart is. Holmes is still missing, and Kitty and Seishi are losing it. Poor Pete. The entirety of this plot is rated NC-17.

May 17: "News for /you/: /not all of him/." Part 21. The naming of dragons. "No martyrs." Yasashi. Spike. Wisdom's temptation. Shutting the door. The entirety of this plot is rated NC-17.

May 18: "Constantine, you colossal idiot!" Part 22, first half. Welcome to the Carnival. Holmes is found. So are Jack, and Constantine, and Katie ... and even Kate. Sort of. (This log had to be posted in two parts for technical reasons.) The entirety of this plot is rated NC-17.
"When does a mirror show you what you /want/ to see?" Part 22, second half. This time it's Kate who's tempted - and Holmes, who's tested. And then there are a few brief, precious seconds to actually catch one's breath. (This log had to be posted in two parts for technical reasons.) The entirety of this plot is rated NC-17.

May 20: "You've ridden that horse yourself." Part 23, first half. The lull between waves. The group rejoins Conjob in the carnival. Looking for Whisper; challenging War. Revelations. The black knight moves. (This log had to be posted in two parts for technical reasons.) The entirety of this plot is rated NC-17.
"Dear world I'm pleased to meet you." Part 23, second half. Playing chess, League-style. Broken boards and broken dreams. Constantine and Innocence. (This log had to be posted in two parts for technical reasons.) The entirety of this plot is rated NC-17.
There's a brief document available on who's which piece, for those confused; minor spoilers.

May 21: "I'm sorry." Part 26, first half. Whisper completes the group, in the ruins of the dreamscape - and the dead come calling. (This log had to be posted in two parts for technical reasons.) The entirety of this plot is rated NC-17.
"You cannot save, unless you are willing to be saved." Part 26, second half. All the pieces are finally in one place. Coming to the TRUTH. The beginning of the end. (This log had to be posted in two parts for technical reasons.) The entirety of this plot is rated NC-17.

May 22: "We must not be haunted by the fear that the sky shall fall upon us." Part 27. Putting the pieces together. Galatea. Blood to blood, life to life: and waking to the day. The entirety of this plot is rated NC-17.

All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible. (T.E. Lawrence, The Seven Pillars of Wisdom)

May 23: "That went well, didn't it?" Waking in the hospital; one might feel sorry for the nurses.
"John Constantine will remain here, until such time as the board deems him fit to leave." Ten days without a cigarette does not make Pete Wisdom happy. Not to mention doctors trying to keep Conjob in the hospital, drugged, on the pretext of psychiatric grounds. And yet, really, Whisper is the scary one. This log is follow-up to In the Arms of Morpheus. Language, violence.
"I'm going to die." Pete and Kitty finally make it home from the hospital. Is there privacy? No. Kurt's been dragon-sitting in their absence. Lockheed seems to be fine with Kurt - it is, predictably, someone else he's annoyed with...

May 25: "So what, all the martial artists decided t'show up t'night?" Pete and Kitty pay their promised visit to Logan, on the same night that half the martial artists in town seem to show up to the Black Phoenix. Language, but not as bad as usual; surprisingly, no violence.
"An' y'don't gotta wear an X. Bit too classy fer the likes of you." Second part of the above log. Logan, Pete, and Kitty work out a bit about where their histories overlap, and don't. And then the whole X-thing inevitably comes up: witness Wisdom's glower.
"This place is good for starting over, isn't it?" Final part of the above log. Things settle out into relative calm between the trio of mutants - not entire and implicit trust on any side, but perhaps the beginnings of something.

May 26: "We were talking about tea. Mostly. And then other things like love and flesh wounds, but mostly tea." And it started out as such a nice conversation. Then Doctor Ballantine came up. And now the League is trying to figure out what to do about him. (First half.) This log is follow-up to In the Arms of Morpheus.
"What I'm asking is a pause for thought before we take him out back and shoot him in the back of the head." Sometimes, people with matching passions for good and justice ... disagree violently on when and how to apply them. Therein lies the wrangling. (Second half.) This log is follow-up to In the Arms of Morpheus. Mild language.
Found. Kitty catches up with Pete Wisdom at the corner place, as agreed. After taking a slight detour. The results are not at all what Wisdom was expecting.

May 27: "Pride?" Kitty checks on Seravina - and, in a sense, meets her for the first time - to find that the other woman is trying to cope with some familiar problems. Discussion of alcohol abuse / addiction.
"Looks like the coma-timing was appalling." (First half) While Kitty is visiting Sera, Pete Wisdom is making a visit of his own: to Lindsey, who's been going through some changes lately. Mild language, discussion of drug abuse / addiction.
"I just have anger management issues. Which involve earthquakes and murder when I slip." (Second half) Pete makes Lindsey an offer, and meets Lindsey's lover. They don't kill each other on sight, which might be considered a positive note. Mild language.

May 29: "Braddock?" "Possibly...?" "... /what/?" More counterpart games, as Kitty and Pete encounter Betsy Braddock. Pete recognizes Betsy. Betsy recognizes Kitty. Kitty - is completely lost, really.
"Are evil doctors that much of a habit around here?" Kitty pays yet another visit to Holmes and Seishi's flat, this time taking Seravina's message.
"We have this whole justice thing." Kitty, Pete, Whisper ... McDonald's. Which really about sums it up.
"What's it like where you come from?" "Normal." (Continuation of the above log.) Kitty and Whisper discuss the Infinity Effect and, yes, inevitably, Ballantine.

May 30: "Move hot-rod, move me on down the line, oh yeah!" (first half) Kitty and Matt Kincaid are on hand to witness Darrow's bid for 'coolest and most cinematic portal entry of 2002.' Oh, yeah, and they start the usual explanation thing, too.
"I'm no expert, but I'd say that guy was dirtier than a pig's toenail." (second half) Darrow displays his skills with local law enforcement, and Pete Wisdom shows up to add to the collection of Ex-Spies In Suits.

Next month: June 2002: Guns on the Roof.