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[shapedthecentury]

[ Someone doesn't know they've been here before. This is all new, and more than a little unnerving, but being in another fight for survival isn't the part he doesn't understand. That, he can go along with.

There are other questions. ]

So the docs here fixed us all up when we arrived. Anyone happen to know how thorough they are?

[ Could be relevant later. Depends on where that damn book's gotten to, if it even exists in this world. Still a pretty significant risk to the team, if unaccounted for, so first thing's first.

And second things second. He straightens, pausing slightly like he's remembering how to go about this. ]

And, uh. My name's Bucky Barnes. Guessing some of you probably heard of me already.

[ Probably not in the best of lights, or that's what that suddenly grim look on his face seems to convey. He's seen the roster, after all. At least two people on there aren't likely to be his biggest fans. ]

Comments

[walkingballpit]

Just when you thought you were done, they pull you back in. It's like deja vu all over again. Ooooooh, double vision...

[ Robbie grins. ]

I think that's out of my system.

The docs do what they can, but they can't regrow limbs and cosmetic surgery is frowned on here - it's this whole love yourself culture. Anything unseen, you've got to ask.

[shapedthecentury]

Yeah, well. If I've learned anything, it's that the fight's never over.

[ No matter how tired you are of it. And Buck is pretty damn tired. It's fine, though. Not this guy's problem, and he's got an answer to the more pressing question besides. ]

So...that'd include stuff that's in your head. For example.

[walkingballpit]

If it was over, I don't know what I'd do with myself.

[ It's the only thing he's good at. ]

Dr. Ry'kerr does a very brisk business with the stuff in our heads. I'm probably paying for a summer home, except it's on the Legion's bill.

[shapedthecentury]

Guess you're right.

[ Because yeah, what do soldiers do without a war? There really isn't anything else for them, and God, isn't that just depressing as Hell?

He wouldn't mind trying to find out, all the same. ]

So we just ask her to go rooting around? Do you trust her?

[walkingballpit]

[ Heroes and soldiers don’t have a whole lot of distinction. The overlap is huge.

Robbie suspects that retirement would look a lot like Leonard Nimoy in “The Lazy Song” music video. ]

It’s not really rooting around. She’s a shrink. You can just set up an appointment and go talk to here, but I guess she is really perceptive. She works with superheroes, you know? She gets it.

[ The babbling is buying time to make a good answer to what Robbie sees as the real question. ]

I do trust her, but it took me a half dozen sessions to really get there. I haven’t had the best experiences with “mental health professionals”. Teaching someone how to put people back together again is also great training on how to fuck them up. Doctor Ry'kerr isn’t like that. She’s good people.

[shapedthecentury]

[ Which is exactly what he needs to hear. And it helps that it's from someone else who seems to get where he's coming from on this. ]

Already had more than enough experience with the former. It might be a nice change of pace.

[ The corner of his lip twitches, just barely. The eyes, though, still just look tired if anything ]

[thedreamisdead]

Should I have heard of you?

[My, isn't that an interrogative tone? One that sounds like she expects an answer, immediately.]

To answer your question, they're very thorough. They managed to catch that I've got some cloned intestines and some genetic rewriting done.

[shapedthecentury]

I honestly don't know. Maybe. You're not missing out on much if you haven't.

[ If she hasn't, if she isn't one of the people the Winter Soldier has affected? That's probably a good thing, right? Service during the war aside. Steve was one thing. He came out of the whole deal a hero.

He's fine not having fame. Or his case, notoriety. Considering. ]

What if there's something wrong with you. Not weird, but...something that shouldn't be there.

[thedreamisdead]

[She grunts in reply. That just means she'll do some digging on her own later, Barnes.]

Then I would hope that they'd tell you about it before releasing you into the general population. It would be rather unethical otherwise, though I'll say that this group doesn't seem to be a bad assortment.

Do you expect something to be wrong with you?

[shapedthecentury]

There was. I wanted to get it fixed. Then I woke up here.

So I'm not sure where that's at, right now. And I'm not sure I should pitch in until I know for sure. For everyone's sake.

[thedreamisdead]

Then you should probably inform the doctors and get an expert opinion. 'For everyone's sake'.

Never trust the competence of strangers, even if it insults them.

[shapedthecentury]

Good advice.

[ Trust isn't something easily won these days, as it is. ]

Dr. Ry'kerr, right? I've heard they're the one to talk to.

[private]

[smarterthandad]

Are you worried you still have mental commands implanted?

[Val knows about her universe's Winter Soldier.

Also, she doesn't really have what you'd call "social skills," so it's just a toddler in a super-suit asking questions she shouldn't know the words for with no preamble.]

[private]

[shapedthecentury]

[ Yeah. That's not super creepy at all. ]

Who are you?

[private]

[smarterthandad]

[Yeah, she's a little much and doesn't realize it at all.]

I'm Valeria Richards. If you're from the same universe as the Tony Stark who just showed up, there's no reason you should recognize the name or me personally. My family doesn't exist in your timeline, but we have a Winter Soldier in mine. Mr. Robbie told you about him.

[Alternate timelines are Superheroing 101, Bucky. Try to keep up.]

[private]

[shapedthecentury]

[ Look kid, he's been asleep a long while. He's still getting used to the stuff Ant-Man and Spider-Man can pull off.

And there's no way a child should know about the Winter Soldier, much less the words. ]

How do you know all of this?

[private]

[smarterthandad]

My family's in the supers business, too. Dad needs to encrypt his files better if he doesn't want me to read them.

[Shrug.]

Look, I know it's coming, so let's just skip the part of the conversation where you point out that I'm a little kid. The high intelligence is genetic. Dad's side. Nothing weird happened to me [to make her smart, anyway] and I keep up with what's going on because you never know who's gonna turn up on your doorstep, or what they'll have chasing them.

[private]

[shapedthecentury]

Sorry to hear that.

[ Smart or not, no kid should have to deal with wondering what kind of real-life monsters are gonna be lurking around. A kid should just be allowed to be a kid, end of story.

Doesn't sound like she minds, but she might change her mind when she's older. Realizes she had to grow up way too quickly. Maybe not. Doesn't keep his chest from twinging all the same.

He'd thought it was bad enough fighting the spider-kid. ]

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[iamresponding]

Sometimes they can't find something wrong unless they know to actively look for it.

[Like hell squid possession, for instance.]

They have telepaths, if you're worried about something mental and hidden. We've had some teammates that were brainwashed or mentally reprogrammed in the past that got help for it from the telepaths.

And they have heavy duty scans for things that are physical.

And yeah I've heard of you. I'm from Robbie's world. We've got a version of you there. Never really crossed paths with the guy because my stomping grounds are up in space, but I heard he was alright.

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[shapedthecentury]

Sounds like it, if he was fit to take over for Steve.

[ Himself? Yeah. He doesn't give himself that much credit. Maybe that Bucky didn't either. Who knows. It's not like he's gonna have a chance to have a sit-down with the guy and find out exactly what changed. ]

But they've got experience with people who went under reprogramming, you said? These telepaths.

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[iamresponding]

Yeah. They're good. Apparently they've worked with the team for a long time and helped quite a few people out over the years.

Dr. Ry'kerr is the one to talk to for any head shrinking that needs to be done, but for anything that's a step past psychiatry and into damage to the mental architecture, she coordinates with the telepaths to have them help you out.

[He rewrites the next part three times before being satisfied with it.]

Had to get some cobwebs cleared out myself recently. Went through a Thing. I needed some help pulling the pieces back together. It wasn't a magic fix but it got me to a place where I could start doing the rest of the work myself.

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[shapedthecentury]

[ Like with Robbie, even through text, he gets the impression that this guy Gets It. So he can be a little bit more forthright, without going into the gory details. ]

I'm not expecting a magic pill here.

I just need to know I can't be used against the rest of the team. If something goes wrong.

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[iamresponding]

They can help with that. My thing was closer to demonic possession with some light reprogramming and memory wipes but we had a teammate who got their entire personality reprogrammed by a group of enemies we were facing.

I'm not at liberty to share more than that because it's their personal business. If they ever want to share the details with you, that's up to them.

But basically, they're good enough to clear out everything from minor damage to full-scale rewrites.

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[shapedthecentury]

Good to know.

I'll talk to them. See if they can take care of this. Wouldn't be much good to the Legion, otherwise.

[ That's why he's here, after all. To be of use. In another war.

Never really ends, does it? ]

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[whereabout]

Sorry to jump in, but you mentioned mental and physical. Do you know if they have a means of dealing with mental programming that may have a supernatural component?

[ #askingforafriend ]